What is the cost of your business downtime? If the internet goes down, can your people scatter and work remote, or are they reliant on having an “in-office” connection for business operations? This has become a standard question with our clients as we are helping them understand the options they have.
For some, connecting to their mobile hotspot is adequate. Others may need a secondary connection that will only failover if the primary is hard down. But, if your business relies heavily on robust, efficient, and seamless application performance from the internet, then SD-WAN may be the option that best fits your needs. So, what is that?
SD-WAN is a transformative networking approach that leverages software-defined principles to dynamically manage and route traffic down (typically) two internet connections. Unlike traditional setups, where routers are used to route your internet traffic, SD-WAN centralizes network management using software applications. This allows network administrators to define policies, prioritize traffic, and optimize performance easily, all from a centralized controller.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Enhanced Performance: One of the most significant advantages of SD-WAN is its ability to improve network performance and user experience. By intelligently directing traffic along the most efficient path, SD-WAN can reduce latency, packet loss, and jitter, resulting in faster application response times and increased productivity.
- Cost Savings: SD-WAN can help organizations reduce their networking costs significantly. By utilizing lower-cost internet connections (such as cable modem, broadband or 4G/5G) alongside traditional Fiber or MPLS circuits, businesses can optimize bandwidth utilization and minimizing expensive upgrades to legacy infrastructure.
- Flexibility and Agility: The agility of SD-WAN enables businesses to scale their networks easily, adding or removing branches without complex hardware configurations. This adaptability is especially crucial for organizations experiencing growth or restructuring.
- Application Prioritization: SD-WAN empowers administrators to prioritize critical applications, ensuring that they receive the necessary bandwidth and performance needed for seamless operation. This prioritization prevents non-essential applications from consuming valuable resources and impacting mission-critical processes.
- Enhanced Security: SD-WAN solutions come equipped with advanced security features, such as encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems, offering robust protection against cyber threats.
- Centralized Management: The centralized management capability of SD-WAN allows network administrators to monitor, troubleshoot, and manage the entire network from a single pane of glass. This streamlines operations, reduces the risk of human error, and simplifies the deployment of new policies. It allows the IT team to prioritize real-time applications, like VoIP and video conferencing, over other traffic, ensuring exceptional call quality and seamless virtual meetings.
There are several good companies that have SD-WAN solutions in their portfolio. We have tools to help you sift through the key features to find what meets your needs, and we have partners that we trust to help you make that decision and implement it with you.
Whether it is road construction, weather, or just simply equipment failure, there will be a time when your business operations halt. How long that halt lasts is something you can control. We’d love to schedule a call with you and discuss the best solution to get you going when that does happen.
