SD-WAN FEATURED ARTICLE

Hybrid WAN Winning the Enterprise Over

January 13, 2016

By Maurice Nagle, Web Editor

Networking hardware was traditionally developed to function at the packet level, leaving network admins no choice but to grapple with routing protocols simply to keep the WAN afloat. To further complicate things, enterprises are rapidly deploying cloud and SaaS (News - Alert) apps and they are using more video, voice, and other high bandwidth applications. These latest two trends make the job of managing and securing the network exponentially more difficult and much more expensive.




As apps and bandwidth needs grow at a breakneck pace enterprises are tasked with meeting this demand. Gartner notes,” Gartner forecasts show that around 30 percent of enterprises are using public cloud services, such as Amazon, Salesforce.com (News - Alert), and Office 365. This is growing by around 17 percent annually, which means that business processes are becoming increasingly reliant on external cloud services.” A second major factor, according to Gartner (News - Alert), is the move by enterprises into a more mobile environment—mobility is the second ranked priority for CIO for the past two years.

One of the ways companies are looking to counteract the seemingly ever, increasing costs associated with the network is by augmenting their MPLS with broadband, direct Internet access, or 4G.  Typically broadband is about 1/10 of the cost of MPLS.  So they can increase their bandwidth at a much lower cost.   However, as is often the case, when one problem is solved it can create more questions.  How do you assure security, how do you decide and then direct which traffic goes over which links? Some Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) solutions are designed just for this instance.

The CloudGenix ‘Instant on Network’ (ION) is such an SD-WAN solution. This Gartner  “Cool Vendor’s” software can be deployed remotely and application policies are defined via the central controller. The solution creates a secure application-defined fabric, and enables companies to deploy an intelligent active-active hybrid WAN in less than 20 minutes.  So companies can realize the enormous cost savings, increased bandwidth, and better application performance while actually dramatically simplifying how their network is designed and managed.

Of course, when it comes to business it is mission critical to ensure applications are easily accessible, function at appropriate levels. Without network management in order a firm loses collaboration, communications and CLIENTS. While this is food for thought, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

I think it’s time to take a look at hybrid WAN.




Edited by Maurice Nagle

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]
SHARE THIS ARTICLE