If your employees work from multiple locations and you’re finding it hard to manage your bandwidth costs, you might want to look into SD-WAN. SD-WAN is poles apart from other network solutions such as MPLS which directs traffic through predetermined routes. 

SD-WAN, as its name implies, is a software-defined approach for optimizing traffic flows. It also minimizes performance costs. It helps businesses to stay in control of their network traffic and increases visibility. It eradicates network congestion and also speeds up sluggish connections and applications. 

If you own a business that’s rapidly expanding, this article would give you enough reason to choose SD-WAN to optimize the efficiency of your digital networks.

1. Facilitates Dynamic Path Selection

Efficient usage of their existing WAN bandwidth is a major concern for most businesses. Since SD-WAN uses Dynamic Path Selection to utilize bandwidth, this is one of the most effective techniques. 

You can reroute traffic across your available public and private WAN paths based on your current application demands. Apart from distributing the load in a balanced way, it also reduces downtime. If you own a business that is adopting multi-cloud networking, SD-WAN is a valuable resource to add to your arsenal.

2. Compatible With Other Services Like VPN

Most IT companies might have already integrated various third-party services and VPNs into their business network. This might be helping them secure their web gateways, cloud services and also to host an effective web application firewall.

Luckily, SD-WAN can function alongside VPN without having to remove or modify it. Apart from streamlining the connection between these services, SD-WAN can also collect or reroute data from them. 

3. Easy To Use Manageable Interface

SD-WAN is a result of integrating multiple networking technologies as one. But this doesn’t mean it requires an expert technician to deploy it. This is because you can control or modify your SD-WAN capabilities using a software interface rather than having to use hardware. 

This software has a simplified user interface that can help you manage, monitor, or configure your network easily. Non-technical staff can handle SD-WAN deployments with ease.

4. Impressive Network and Application Performance

Traditional WAN models might result in performance issues, outages, and network congestions. This is because they are inefficient in handling massive network traffic. SD-WAN, on the other hand, can manage both cloud and on-premise applications hosted from anywhere.

SD-WAN is also effective in handling applications that are sensitive to latency. This involves communication tools such as video and voice chats. 

5. It Is Both Secure & Scaleable

SD-WAN centralizes the management of WAN. This means that you can only pay for what you use and entirely shut down a business site if the need arises. Since you can remotely manage your traffic using software, you don’t have to involve IT technicians and expensive physical devices for it. 

This gives you the ability to rapidly scale the requirements of your business. Whereas, traditional WAN management policies would need multiple hardware at each branch office to do so.

SD-WAN also makes it easy for you to deploy real-time security protocols and policies across multiple sites at the same instance. You can segment your existing traffic and devise a security strategy for each segment. 

6. Fast Return On Investment

The time taken to deploy traditional MPLS is huge which could take weeks if not months. But SD-WAN only takes days to deploy with no need for an IT specialist to be present on site. This means that you can bring a new branch site online within days and the cost of installation is cheap.

SD-WAN also doesn’t need a bunch of technicians to manage it. You can further drive down the costs by reducing the expenses related to training, hiring, and deploying these technicians. 

Conclusion

SD-WAN secures all your endpoints with end-to-end encryption. This makes it easy for you to control the access privileges of your employees and guests. In simple terms, apart from optimizing performance, it also keeps your network secure.

But should you abandon VPN completely and use SD-WAN? Is SD-WAN superior to VPN? If you’d like a quick comparison, consider reading: 5 Reasons Why You Should Use SD-WAN For Your Business.

Would you like to talk with an SD-WAN specialist to get your doubts clarified? Are you considering the possibilities of integrating SD-WAN into your business? Contact Our SD-WAN Expert immediately to schedule a demonstration.