How SD-WAN-as-a-Service Works
Times have changed. Today, businesses are more reliant on the cloud and numerous software-as-a-service applications. Rather than connecting back to corporate data centres to access these applications, users are far better served accessing them via the cloud. As such, we’ve seen more and more organisations move away from traditional wide area networks (WAN) to software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) to simplify the network, reduce costs, improve performance, boost security, and ensure the success of digital transformation initiatives.
However, we also know that implementing and managing a secure SD-WAN solution can be time consuming and complex. Many leading organisations are opting for SD-WAN-as-a-Service to streamline the process and save time and money. Here, we present just a few of the many benefits such a service can deliver to your business.
What is SD-WAN-as-a-Service?
As a refresher, SD-WAN is a software-defined approach to managing your wide area network. It enables fast and secure connections between your numerous data centres and cloud services. If you manage a distributed organisation with multiple branch offices or a remote workforce, SD-WAN solutions will improve both user experience and application performance via intelligent traffic routing across multiple WAN circuits including MPLS, internet, and wireless 4G and 5G. Savvy leaders are looking to replace their traditional WAN architectures with SD-WAN to improve staff productivity, reduce costs, and create new business opportunities.
With SD-WAN-as-a-Service (SD-WANaaS), you reap all the benefits of SD-WAN with none of the headache of implementing or managing the solution. You fully outsource your SD-WAN applications and services to an expert provider. The right partner, like Optec, will provide everything you need to boost your performance and keep you protected. This includes all necessary hardware, software, networking, and transport services as well as the appropriate service-level agreements to ensure optimal uptime and enhanced security.
Benefits of SD-WAN-as-a-Service
The benefits of SD-WAN are clear. Now, let’s dive into why you might consider SD-WAN-as-a-Service, versus a do-it-yourself approach.
Reduced Network Costs and Simple Pricing
Let’s face it: traditional WAN solutions are aging, inflexible, and can’t keep up with increased demands for connectivity. Outdated WAN networks are also expensive. Replacing or supplementing these legacy networks with SD-WAN can reduce your network costs by 90% or more. When you opt for SD-WAN-as-a-Service, your vendor provides everything you need at a simple, transparent monthly price. For example, if you opt for Optec’s SD-WAN-as-a-Service, you benefit from a fully customisable package with everything from hardware and virtual appliances to ongoing management and monitoring from skilled engineers.
Simplified Management and Peace of Mind
Traditional WAN is clunky. To deliver baseline networking and security functionalities requires your team to rely heavily on CLI commands to configure and manage the multiple point products. With SD-WANaaS, however, you shift this burden to an expert provider, who works in partnership with you to install, deliver, monitor, manage, and secure all aspects of your SD-WAN solution. Just think: How much time can this save me and my team? With SD-WAN-as-a-Service from Optec, you can rest assured that your network is achieving the highest quality performance, while empowering your team to focus on innovation and other business-critical projects.
Better User Experiences (Internal and External)
Your employees require fast, reliable connectivity to carry out their work. Your customers also demand peak performance when engaging with your products and services. If your business relies on top-of-the-line internet connectivity (and we bet it does), SD-WAN delivers superior quality of experience at any scale by prioritising traffic and offering transport flexibility. SD-WAN-as-a-Service only enhances this benefit—your vendor will continually monitor your environment, which allows you to further differentiate your business from your competitors through automatic provisioning and real-time adjustments.
Enhanced Network Security
SD-WAN offers enhanced security over traditional wide area networks, but keep in mind not all solutions are created equal. Look for SD-WAN solutions—like Optec’s Secure SD-WAN from Fortinet—that come with built-in dynamic meshed VPN capabilities for all data in transit, as well as deep traffic inspection using IPS, firewall, web filtering, anti-malware, anti-virus, and more. SD-WAN-as-a-Service takes it a step further by bringing security controls and visibility closer to the end users and distributing sensors to all sites. This enables us to see potential breaches quicker and gives you more control to stop the threat from moving through your network and infecting other sites. It’s the security you need for today’s threat landscape.
At Optec, our friendly experts can help guide your journey to cutting-edge, customisable, and affordable Secure SD-WAN solutions. We do the heavy lifting, and you achieve maximum performance, flexibility, and scalability. Please get in touch with us today to learn more!
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