Cloud Source

Prioritizing SD-WAN Security Without Sacrificing Cost

by

The acceleration of cloud migration has led to an acceleration of cloud networking solutions, namely software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN). There is a flood of solutions hitting the market, and enterprises may quickly feel forced to choose between adequate SD-WAN security and enjoying the cost savings they anticipated.

These aren’t the only challenges confronting enterprises attempting to choose the best SD-WAN solution. Organizations must examine the current network infrastructure they are using and determine what benefits an SD-WAN solution will introduce, clearly defining priorities along the way. There are many factors to consider:

Cost Savings: Determine what level of cost-savings you can count on with SD-WAN. Seek out the references of companies with similar existing infrastructure and goals and find out whether there has been any cost savings lost as they have grown.

In your assessment, be sure to examine whether the solution offers a reduction in overhead with zero-day provisioning and automation. Reporting capabilities should equip you to examine network activity at a granular level, and all troubleshooting and provisioning should be conveniently accessed in a central dashboard.

Structure: Find out whether SD-WAN is a part of a platform that integrates with local area network (LAN), WAN, internet of things (IoT), and cloud solutions – or if it is a point product. You should also ask whether the solution allows you to eliminate some devices, such as routers, or is it more of a stitched-together approach?

The solution should be designed to handle geographically-dispersed branch locations, as well as remote workers, and include capabilities around multi-cloud and on-ramping for cloud applications.

Optimization: The SD-WAN solution you choose should have advanced features, such as traffic segmentation and steering, application recognition, and 5G or LTE failover. It should also have self-healing connections and overall reliability.

SD-WAN Security: The introduction of SD-WAN should improve your security through an overall secure access service edge (SASE) approach that recognizes the unique requirements of a dispersed network architecture. SD-WAN security should include built-in, next-generation firewall.

Counting the Cost

The total cost of ownership (TCO) for SD-WAN can be challenging to measure because a solution that seems initially to be a bargain can, for instance, flood your network teams with limited configuration options. In addition, any solution with limited SD-WAN security features will have your organization adding your own security overlay, which can lead to costs increasing quickly.

When SD-WAN implementations are successfully launched, return on investment should occur in three years, but particularly well-matched solutions will deliver that benefit in just one year. Immediate ROI should be seen in areas like reducing the cost of infrastructure and shifting away from multi-protocol label switching lines to more-affordable broadband.

The right solution will also deliver immediate improvements on application performance, meeting your performance goals without ever compromising on security.

Investing in a network infrastructure upgrade like SD-WAN delivers a host of benefits liken cost savings and traffic optimization, but nothing should be prioritized over SD-WAN security. Contact us at Cloud Source for guidance in choosing a solution that delivers the cost savings you want without compromising security.

Three Ways SD-WAN Empowers Digital Transformation

by

Recent events have seemed to strongarm enterprises into pursuing digital transformation, but the reality is that no technological disruption is ever truly without external pressures. Businesses of all sizes are pushing to adopt cloud technologies and develop the agility needed to be flexible in a rapidly-changing market and meet customer demand. To do this, they are prioritizing a network upgrade to software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN).

The shift to the cloud provides enterprises with better security, increased productivity, and more agility. While most IT teams have been working alongside marketing and other departments to make this happen, it has recently become more of a critical move. Many companies are still operating with a traditional WAN architecture, making it difficult to match the bandwidth and performance specifications of cloud solutions. This, in turn, leaves many enterprises disillusioned with the supposed benefits of cloud adoption.

In order to make the most of a cloud investment, enterprises need to upgrade to SD-WAN. WAN architecture is too cumbersome, requiring traffic to be backhauled to the central hub in order to secure it and reliably transport it. That model worked fine until cloud technology entered the IT scene when constant connection became the norm. Software as a service (SaaS) solutions offer greater flexibility when it comes to consumption of software, but require a new networking model.

With a secure virtual overlay for the physical network, SD-WAN allows network teams to steer traffic and make adjustments to bandwidth from a centralized control center. They can set business policy that prioritizes mission-critical transmissions, such as video conferencing, over less-critical transmissions that don’t demand real-time connectivity, such as email.

SD-WAN, because it is a virtual overlay, offers a significant improvement to infrastructure. It offers faster, more cost-efficient connectivity without having to tear the entire technology stack out and start over from the ground up. It offers several key advantages:

Reliable Connectivity: SD-WAN removes the need to backhaul and offers built-in failover with a mixture of broadband, LTE, and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) lines that network teams balance for optimal reliability.

Improved Management: SD-WAN offers global consistency through a centralized management console, removing the need for technicians to travel to a branch location to troubleshoot network issues. SD-WAN can accommodate all types of traffic without compromising the performance of applications.

QoE: Quality of experience (QoE) is optimized with SD-WAN, allowing network teams to prioritize certain applications and important tasks so that bandwidth is allocated according to automated policies. End users have access to the applications and tools they need without the latency or congestion experienced with a traditional WAN architecture.

When pursuing digital transformation, enterprises need to consider network connectivity as the foundation of their strategy. Investing in SD-WAN fuels an effective transition to cloud and future-proofs the organization for additional investments. Contact us at Cloud Source for more information.

SD-WAN Adoption Gains Additional Momentum

by

As enterprises gained more interest in cloud solutions, they needed a way to manage the heavy bandwidth requirements and the network demands of geographically-dispersed branch locations. Many found that software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) provided the way to ensure reliable connectivity to branches while meeting bandwidth needs in a cost-effective setting.

Now, more enterprises are adopting SD-WAN because new trends are making it even more accessible and secure. Take a look at some of the forces driving SD-WAN adoption:

SD-Branch: Of those customers surveyed by IDC, 70% expect to utilize SD-Branch in the next year. SD-Branch is based on the technology used to develop SD-WAN, but it is further enhanced to meet the specific needs of local area networks (LANs) in terms of networking and management.

Partnerships: Many of the bigger public cloud providers and the developers of SD-WAN products are increasingly creating partnerships that direct the development of better SD-WAN products. These solutions are more intuitive and designed to support the specific requirements of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments.

Integrated Design: Enterprises are favoring platforms that cover a wide range of network needs. Management to security network professionals are seeking platforms that integrate with data-center networks, public cloud resources, and LANs. Security needs to be baked in, rather than presented as a bolted-on solution that must be customized with additional features and tools. Network teams will be looking for support in areas like analytics, visibility, and unified communications.

Overall, enterprises are pursuing solutions that allow them to integrate infrastructure with software so that they can achieve consistency in areas like management and security. These policies can be applied based on user, application, or device – across the network.

Multi-Cloud Environments: Enterprises are pursuing multi-cloud environments as a way to improve cost savings, reliability, and agility by placing workloads in their ideal cloud or on-premise platform. SD-WAN can act as connective tissue between the data center, cloud, branch locations, and internet of things (IoT) devices. The technology offered in SD-WAN is critical for businesses that need cost-effective and reliable connectivity between branches and cloud solutions. Some enterprises may be utilizing hundreds – or even thousands – of solutions, and SD-WAN technology helps simplify the management of multi-cloud environments.

New offerings in SD-WAN reflect a new, better way to implement virtualized networking that is more comprehensive and cohesive in its approach. From more intuitive solutions that are informed by the participation of cloud providers to security features that integrate well with IT policies, SD-WAN is becoming even more vital to optimizing networking.

If you’re considering an infrastructure upgrade, contact us at Cloud Source. We can help you determine whether SD-WAN adoption is right for your network and then work with you to leverage the best solution for your needs.

Why Public Internet Isn’t the Draw of SD-WAN

by

Enterprises utilizing software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) for cost savings often envision the complete replacement of multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) lines. While reliable and secure, MPLS can get costly, particularly as enterprises invest in bandwidth-hungry cloud solutions with specific performance requirements.

When SD-WAN came on the scene, many enterprises identified it as the solution to their networking troubles. Not only did it offer better visibility, scalability, and centralized control, it also introduced traffic optimization and pathway autonomy. Network engineers could prioritize traffic based on the critical nature of the transmission and relegate non-mission critical traffic to the public internet.

The problem is that the public internet has nowhere near the security needed for traffic that was previously transmitted on MPLS lines. The solution is a privately managed network that is based in the cloud and operates at the global level – offering the performance and low latency that cloud solutions require. It also offers security that’s baked into the solution.

Performance: One of the first priorities that leads to the adoption of a private cloud backbone is performance. Enterprises choosing an SD-WAN solution should examine network construction as well as the terms of the service level agreement to see what is being guaranteed. Rather than a public internet option that negatively impacts performance, enterprises need a global private cloud network with a predictable and efficient performance level.

Security: Choosing a private backbone rather than the public internet for SD-WAN also improves security. When enterprises are forced to backhaul traffic to a central security function, it increases latency and impacts application performance. In the case of SD-WAN, cloud traffic can go directly to the internet if each branch office has a secure, direct internet access. This requires additional security appliances to be deployed at each branch location.

In order to avoid this complexity, enterprises should choose a solution that offers a private backbone. It’s important to verify that the provider offers mobile security, next generation firewall, anti-malware, secure web gateways, and encryption.  

Mobile Support: Any network needs to be able to support not only branch locations but also mobile users with its architecture. Ideally, there’s an agentless architecture with no software required on devices – allowing for simplified maintenance and support.

A private backbone provider that is located in the same data center as the cloud service provider can make it easy for the network to connect with multiple cloud providers.

Reducing Costs: For many enterprises, it’s the promise of reduced costs associated with MPLS that initiates the conversation surrounding SD-WAN. While any SD-WAN solution should reduce networking costs when MPLS use is reduced, it’s important to consider who owns the software in the private backbone when it comes to pricing. The difference is often tied to licensing fees and how quickly they can deliver updates and enhancements to you, the client.

If you’re considering SD-WAN options for your enterprise, contact us at Cloud Source. We can assess your needs and then guide you through the process of choosing a secure SD-WAN solution.

Implementing a Secure SD-WAN Solution

by

Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) is becoming the answer to many network challenges, including reducing the cost of pricey links like multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) and private ethernet connections. These connections tend to be priced at a premium and challenging for IT teams to manage. Network redundancy is complex and requires a labor-intensive approach. When WAN acceleration was required, add-in products were necessary to support certain applications.

Enterprises are increasingly turning to SD-WAN, and the motivation is often the expected cost savings that come with carrier autonomy, which allows for the access of a variety of pathways along with automated policy that directs traffic based on application requirements and congestion concerns.

While there are numerous benefits, one of the challenges of SD-WAN is ensuring that data and systems are secure. Cost savings are attractive to companies transitioning to SD-WAN, but they also seek out the improvement in application performance as well as management simplicity. Having all of these advances and security coverage as well creates some challenges.

All of these expectations for SD-WAN hinge on its ability to be application aware. This ensures both specialized application performance acceleration and security at the firewall-application level are possible.

Next-generation firewall (NGFW) providers are beginning to work in partnership with SD-WAN providers in order to offer hosted cloud firewall gateways, so that firewall services and cloud internet access are centralized. While SD-WAN gateway and hosted firewalls are promising services, the impact multiplies when they are combined.

Application Performance

When SD-WAN is implemented, one of the more noticeable benefits is application performance improvement. The solution is equipped with algorithms that allow it to optimize application traffic between sites. It has an awareness of the pathways and their quality, so that it can route traffic according to the application requirements and which pathways are experiencing the level of quality necessary for a successful transmission. This is important for applications like voice or video that tend to be sensitive to latency or jitter.

Improved Security

The complexity of managing security across multiple sites increases the value of SD-WAN for centralizing internet access through an NGFW. Enterprises move to a cloud-based NGFW, making it easier to manage and more reliable, securing the network all the way to the edge. In addition, SD-WAN gateways and hosted firewall services tend to be housed in large data centers around the world, offering improved connectivity for enterprise branches.

SD-WAN also ensures improved traffic visibility, with better insights and control over how data is being transmitted. This improves security in terms of protection, detection, and the ability to isolate a threat to a particular pathway or according to predetermined network segmentation.

SD-WAN offers network optimization when integration includes application awareness and security functions. Enterprises that don’t include these considerations in their SD-WAN selection process may always be trying to chase the promised benefits of SD-WAN technology.

For more information about SD-WAN and choosing a solution that improves application performance and data and systems security, contact us at Cloud Source.

Contact

328 S. Jefferson St. Suite 603
Chicago, IL 60661
Ph: 312.753.7880
E: info@CloudSourceServices.com

Newsletter Signup

Stay up-to-date on Cloud Source's news.

↑ Top of Page