Most companies have servers for email, ERP, practice management software etc. Most of the time those are in a corporate data center or other data center and the branch offices connect to those servers via private MPLS connections for security and performance. Internet is typically managed from a secure location such as the data center or corporate HQ and there is a single firewall appliance governing access to the public internet. Branch offices cross the MPLs network to access Internet from the HQ. This is a great design for security and for performance. Its easy to manage and very secure so why would a company want to consider SD WAN (software defined wide area networking)?
The answer to that depends on whether or not your software vendors are pushing all your applications to the cloud. Let’s say your email is served up by Microsoft. Microsoft has pushed Office 365 to be a cloud based SaaS application. You can no longer deploy it on your own server, instead you connect to the Microsoft cloud over the Internet. Many other software vendors have moved to the same model. So suddenly your branch offices don’t necessarily need to connect to the data center or run through corporate to connect to applications. In that instance where all of your software is served up from the cloud it might lead to an SD WAN network design and make sense to place a managed SD-WAN appliance at your branch offices and allow them to get Internet connectivity locally. Even in the SaaS world a private network forcing all traffic out the HQ with a single firewall is still the most secure. The needs of your business may lead to an SD WAN network rather than private connections.
SD WAN really comes down to whether it’s the right fit for your situation. If you have a remote location with no good bandwidth options then SD WAN can help you bond broadband connections to get decent connectivity and tie it into the corporate network. As stated above if you no longer have the need for a corporate data center then it might be cheaper to deploy SD WAN and broadband circuits rather than high speed fiber. We recommend Fiber and private connectivity wherever you can get it but SD WAN has some great features and has its place in the corporate WAN.
Global Managed SD-WAN frees enterprises from the complexities of procuring, deploying, monitoring, managing, and supporting SD-WAN and its many components. Partner with a single vendor like Agility Communications and we will transform expensive, complex, and rigid legacy networks, into simplified, cost-efficient, agile, and performance-driven business solutions. Combine that with our global internet procurement services you truly have one vendor for worldwide broadband, MPLS and Ethernet services.
