There are various benefits to SD-WAN, but one of the most important is the ability to prioritize and steer business-critical traffic over the most effective route. This helps reduce latency and packet loss, improve application performance, and boost employee morale. First, however, you might wonder if SD-WAN is right for your business.
Reduces costs
SD-WAN, or Software-Defined Wide Area Network, is a new networking technology that provides distributed flexibility and speed. Based on Software-Defined Networking (SDN) principles, software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) can manage different types of connections and are much faster to deploy than MPLS circuits. The technology can also help businesses reduce their overall bandwidth consumption by reducing the number of WAN connections required.
When compared to MPLS, SD-WAN provides business owners with significant savings. SD-WANs can also provide a more secure and reliable network.
However, before implementing an SD-WAN solution, businesses should determine whether it will pay off financially. A payback period can be calculated for ROI or return on investment. Payback periods measure how long it will take to recoup the initial capital outlay. Soft savings are more difficult to measure and can often not be used to justify the investment.
Improves application performance
Business applications rely on reliable network connections, and SD-WAN technology can help them run faster and more efficiently. However, the Internet has its share of inconsistencies and unpredictable performance, which can lead to issues with application performance. As a result, organizations are looking for new ways to manage network performance while reducing costs.
Using real-time application routing and path conditioning, SD-WANs can help businesses improve application performance over the Internet. The technology also works on MPLS, which means that it can eliminate the need to run CoS on MPLS connections. This means that you can use SD-WANs with your existing MPLS connections and save money while enhancing the performance of your business applications. SD-WANs also use advanced orchestration and machine learning to ensure optimal performance and reduce the complexity of network policies.
Poor performance of applications can have a dramatic impact on employee productivity. A file that took a minute to open in the office would take a few minutes to open when working from home. This can add hours to a day’s work. Without optimal application performance, no business can run efficiently.
Provides failover
Internet failover allows businesses to continue operating even if their primary Internet connection experiences a problem. It can quickly replace a critical machine, application, or data segment, allowing companies to continue without interruption. Whether your business is large or small, failover is essential for business continuity.
Internet failover is essential for businesses because it allows them to avoid expensive downtime and interruptions of operations. As a result, it can prevent lost sales and productivity. Moreover, it provides a backup internet circuit and is configured as an active/passive solution. In addition to being cost-effective, it can also increase productivity by ensuring your business data connection is always up and running.
Business failover can be performed by incorporating wireless or cable connections into a network. Although they are different, both types provide reliable and uninterrupted network connectivity. For example, if the latter fails, a cable connection can be a backup to a dedicated fiber connection. However, it is still vulnerable to physical interruptions. For example, vandalism or construction accidents could damage or break cables, resulting in an outage. This makes it vital to have a failover solution that keeps business operations running despite the interruption in service.
Reduces complexity
SD-WAN solutions simplify the management of virtual private networks, firewalls, and remote clients. They also reduce the cost of equipment, maintenance, and labor. Traditional WANs rely on physical routers to connect remote users with applications hosted in data centers. These routers include a control plane and a data plane, and network engineers write rules and policies to control traffic flow. SD-WAN solutions separate control and management processes from the hardware, allowing network administrators to quickly write and deploy new regulations and policies.
While SD-WAN can simplify onboarding multiple sites, it doesn’t solve all the challenges associated with legacy WANs. For example, MPLS services are complex to deploy and change, and it takes time and money to make changes. However, using an SD-WAN can reduce bandwidth costs by using cheaper public links vs. private ones and help companies plan and track traffic more efficiently. Businesses that use cloud-based applications also benefit from this technology because it offers more detailed information than legacy connections.
With SD-WAN, business owners can quickly scale their bandwidth. Unlike other WAN solutions, SD-WANs are scalable, meaning they can easily add or subtract bandwidth and use it for other purposes without the help of IT personnel. In addition, dealing with organizational downtime is frustrating for any business, and SD-WAN helps reduce the amount of downtime an organization experiences. On average, organizations experience 4 hours of rest each year.