As cloud technology becomes more widespread and the mobile workforce and its accompanying devices continues to grow, many enterprises are looking at their future network needs. Most see the benefits of software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), and as SD-WAN is used in more situations, providers are learning more about its capabilities.

There are a few benefits to using SD-WAN that make it an easy choice for certain enterprises:

• The ability to set up business policies for routing internet traffic through the network based on how critical the data transmission is
• Segmentation of that traffic, which allows IT to limit exposure to a breach
• Centralized management and improved visibility that gives IT the ability to troubleshoot, as well as bring a new location up to speed without leaving the main office

This is just a sampling of the many reasons why enterprises are steadily adopting SD-WAN. As they do, providers are learning that SD-WAN can offer even better connectivity when it’s applied as an end-to-end solution servicing the edge, the core, and the cloud. When these components are designed to fit together on a seamless network solution, overall performance is optimized.

The approach requires that SD-WAN be applied, not just as an overlay, but to connect edge traffic into the core network at the nearest IP entry point. This allows optimal routing to be placed as near to the end user as possible. This approach requires that virtual gateways be accessed to route and optimize application performance as a part of the global network.

There are several reasons why an enterprise may want to work with SD-WAN providers that can offer this type of comprehensive approach to the network:

• The greatest benefits of SD-WAN occur at the edge, where cost, availability and heightened performance are most keenly experienced.
• Accessing a mix of IP and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) from the core allows for flexibility in a hybrid environment. Enterprises can mix up the types of traffic, but also have access to the virtual gateway, giving them optimal performance in application delivery.
• The use of a backbone connection allows for better performance and lower latency.
• The ability to route traffic and break it out as close as possible to the host location of an enterprise’s service provider for their cloud software application is critical for improving performance.
• In an enterprise considering a merger or acquisition or beginning a growth period, the ability to segment out network traffic or bridge networks serviced by different providers is helpful.

If you’d like to know the full range of what SD-WAN can do for your enterprise, contact us at eXemplify. From solving latency issues to eliminating the need for your technicians to travel from branch to branch, SD-WAN answers many of the network needs of today’s growing enterprises.