Enterprises are utilizing software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) to support growing cloud investment. The benefits of SD-WAN include traffic segmentation and optimization, improved security, bandwidth management for better application performance, and centralized management.
As more enterprises tap into the advantages available with SD-WAN, they may find benefits in taking a “future-proof” approach to implementation. Here are three areas in which a visionary approach to SD-WAN can equip enterprises with a more transparent and responsive infrastructure:
Security
Enterprises want to pursue digital transformation and the benefits of cloud services, but never at the expense of security. Hybrid approaches incorporating both public and private cloud solutions need next-generation firewalls, encryption, and IPsec tunneling. While SD-WAN offerings generally have options to bundle these features, or may even offer them as a default, a future-proof approach reaches beyond these basics.
More comprehensive SD-WAN solutions integrate security technology and analytics to equip enterprises for behavioral analytics, machine learning, and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB). These options allow enterprises to expand their use of software as a service (SaaS).
Providers are also watching to ensure that their SD-WAN products aren’t adding to the workload of IT security teams updating technology at the WAN edge. When security is integrated in the SD-WAN solution, it includes incident response and 24/7 threat detection rather than IT facing a deluge of threat monitoring reports and security alerts.
Multi-Cloud Strategy
Many SD-WAN solutions offer direct connections to the biggest public cloud providers in order to keep pace with the increasing popularity of cloud investments. Some SD-WAN solutions take it even further, combining service level agreements with interconnections, guaranteeing performance quality.
SD-WAN is gaining direct access to more SaaS providers, providing guaranteed services while also supporting application performance and the end user experience.
Autonomous Networks
SD-WAN is helping fuel the advance toward artificial intelligence and the ability to run autonomous networks. Artificial intelligence will make it possible to automate whole new categories of network operations, equipped with virtual network assistants. Enterprises looking to the future as they plan their SD-WAN implementation are taking note of which solutions will help integrate artificial intelligence operations into their network management.
SD-WAN Innovation
Enterprises often stall out on digital transformation plans because of systems and management stuck in silos. In order to create an agile pace of change, enterprises need the responsiveness of SD-WAN with a transparent infrastructure. As SD-WAN increasingly plays a role as the central hub of applications, automation, security, and cloud services, enterprise IT leaders are watching whether management becomes too complex with a flood of portals, consoles, and dashboards to maintain.
Forward-looking enterprises know that innovation depends on centralized visibility and control, supporting an agile and responsive infrastructure. The ideal plan offers an SD-WAN solution that can operate across IT domains and combine security, analytics, and networking into a single portal.
If you’re considering implementing SD-WAN, contact us at eXemplify. We can help you embrace an approach that prepares your organization for the future with an SD-WAN solution that is innovative in areas like security and artificial intelligence.