Embracing a CloudFirst SD-WAN approach is revolutionising how businesses handle their network demands in the cloud era. This article delves into the top benefits of adopting CloudFirst SD-WAN, highlighting how it not only simplifies network management but also ensures robust security, improved performance and cost efficiency.
Exploring CloudFirst SD-WAN: A Game Changer for Modern Businesses
Modern companies need a network that meets them where they are. They need a solution that’s optimised for the cloud.
Past networking technologies aren’t up to the task of supporting today’s data-hungry businesses. The cloud-based software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) is the solution for today’s corporate networks, especially when it comes to optimising cloud connectivity.
Businesses increasingly rely on mission-critical services in the cloud. This includes Voice over IP (VoIP), virtual private network (VPN) connectivity, cloud-hosted services and applications, email, office productivity, software as a service (SaaS) and so much more.
There’s no room for downtime. A failed connection means lost productivity. Are you facing any of these problems:
- Slow access to crucial cloud resources?
- Persistent latency (lag)?
- Unreliable internet connectivity?
- Lack of internet connection visibility?
- Inflated costs?
You’re not alone. It’s easy to get caught up with all the next-gen technology that’s hitting the market—artificial intelligence, extended reality, Internet of Things and many more—but without a solid foundation, it’s hard to get a return on your investment.
All of these applications require extensive data transfer. And that’s before you even consider the everyday programmes you run in the cloud, like file storage, backups, phone calls, video conferencing, project management and more.
Without a network that can handle the load, we get the IT equivalent of an asthma attack: the pipes can’t cope with what needs to pass through them. That’s why so many businesses are switching to SD-WAN for cloud deployment.
Optimising Business Networks with CloudFirst SD-WAN
What is CloudFirst SD-WAN? The cloud-first software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) uses programmatic automation and rules-based configurations to prioritise certain types of internet traffic.
This improves connectivity between multiple sites or between a single site and a cloud service provider.
SD-WAN uses software to define how users and devices access resources such as cloud services, VoIP and SaaS applications.
If you’re wondering ‘what is SD-WAN used for?’ then consider this metaphor: just as air traffic control orchestrates aircraft movements in and out of an airport to prevent collisions and delays, SD-WAN orchestrates web traffic that flows in and out of a company’s network.
Cloud-first SD-WAN ensures your business always has access to the cloud resources it depends on to get the job done.
It also provides network administrators with more control. They can prioritise certain types of traffic, set rules to ensure security and improve capacity and resiliency by incorporating redundancy. SD-WAN also enables better network monitoring and analytics.
CloudFirst SD-WAN: Enhancing Security and Performance
According to a Futuriom SD-WAN Growth Report, 92% of companies ‘said they are using and/or evaluating SD-WAN technology’.
Any technology achieving such ubiquity deserves our attention. SD-WAN is far from a speculative investment; as noted above, it unlocks a variety of advanced technologies such as AI and cloud computing, because the network forms the basic infrastructure of the digital enterprise. Here’s how:
- Reliable cloud access: As more companies move to cloud services, concerns about communication networks have grown because they’re often not able to handle critical access to cloud services. This becomes even more challenging as organisations come to depend on multiple cloud service providers and private data centres.
By centralising control of these hybrid environments, companies that use cloud-first SD-WAN can reap the full benefits of digital transformation and cloud adoption.
For instance, this technology enables all of your traffic to exit the cloud with a single IP address, regardless of your internet carrier. This is crucial for services like VoIP so that calls never need to re-register mid-conversation. The upshot is that you never drop a call.
The same holds true for virtual private network (VPN) connectivity. With cloud-first SD-WAN, your connection remains uninterrupted, no matter what happens behind the scenes on your network.
- Boosted performance: SD-WAN improves productivity. ‘Through performance monitoring conducted in the SD-WAN layer, IT staff can determine optimal network settings for each application,’ explains IBM.
‘The IT staff can then redirect traffic to the appropriate transport service and adjust network settings to reduce application latency and improve availability for end users.’ Some types of data transfer are more important than others.
With so many companies hosting mission-critical applications in the cloud, having a reliable and consistent cloud connection is essential for modern businesses. Cloud-first SD-WAN can also prevent packet loss and jitter, both of which degrade the user experience.
- Improved network security: Reduced security risk is another major benefit. It ultimately comes down to giving administrators greater visibility and control over what’s happening on the network.
SD-WAN provides an additional layer of encryption alongside built-in firewall capabilities. It’s also possible to set up a cloud-based SD-WAN with integrated threat protection and application-aware policies.
This means that the software governing the network’s behaviour can automatically stop some forms of malware and ransomware.
- Reduced complexity: Cloud-first SD-WAN is easier to manage than older, less sophisticated protocols like multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). This is especially true in complex hybrid environments that include both public and private clouds.
According to Statista research, one of the biggest adoption drivers among current adopters of SD-WAN in the US is that it is ‘more efficient to deploy and manage’.
Many survey respondents also cite the ‘ability to consolidate the network into one environment’ and that SD-WAN ‘enables orchestration across multiple types of access’. This reduced complexity also enables greater agility, both when it comes to faster network resource provisioning and responding more quickly to business demands. - Reduced cost: Another top-cited reason in the Statista research is lower cost. It’s not uncommon for companies to reduce their network costs by 40% or more.
When companies realise that they can lower the overall total cost of ownership (TCO) of their network, reduce IT overheads and improve their bottom line, cloud-first SD-WAN becomes even more attractive.
Why Choose CloudFirst SD-WAN for Your Business?
There’s no need to ‘take the leap’ with cloud-first SD-WAN adoption. Instead of ripping out existing infrastructure, SD-WAN is an overlay that sits on top of an existing network and cloud deployment.
Remember, it’s all software.
That said, it’s still important to be strategic about implementation. We need to make sure that we include security by design rather than attempting to bolt it on afterwards, and we also need to ensure that the SD-WAN serves the needs of both users and the IT staff who support them.
Especially when integrating SD-WAN into complex networks, it’s crucial to work with a trusted partner—someone who understands your needs, can develop an actionable roadmap and work with you from design to provisioning to support.
That’s why so many businesses choose Nexxis FailSAFE cloud access. They want an SD-WAN that’s optimised for cloud connectivity and will continue to serve them for years to come, no matter where technology takes them.
Plus, many businesses realise a reduction in their network costs by up to 90%.
We offer a complete package that bundles together FailSAFE SD-WAN, redundant connectivity across a diverse set of carriers, full management and maintenance, and on-demand troubleshooting.
Forget the headache of managing multiple vendors, invoices and agreements. We make it easy to enhance your networking with SD-WAN and other cutting-edge technologies.