Did you know? SD-WAN dynamically adjusts traffic flows based on real-time network conditions, optimizing bandwidth utilization and ensuring high application performance. (Fortinet)
In recent times, we are witnessing that businesses are expecting to grow and expand their branches in different domains to connect with a new audience.
But this expansion needs reliable and sustainable resources, as they are targeting different locations on the map.
That’s where SD-WAN plays a pivotal role because it enables single point management that enables multipurpose networking.
Furthermore, in this blog post, we are going to cover all the essential requirements of this segment and provide valuable insights to the readers.
Let’s begin!
Key Takeaways
Understanding the role of scalability and flexibility
Evaluating features of network performance and reliability
Decoding some crucial security features
Getting insights about the application awareness
Discovering the metrics of management and visibility
Taking a look at customer support services
Scalability and Flexibility
The most important requirement is that your SD-WAN solution should grow with your business. The vendor you choose must be able to deliver scalability and flexibility when you open new locations, transition to more remote employees, or add new cloud applications.
You can ask how easy it is to add new locations, what the license terms are as you expand, and whether you will be locked into hard contracts. For instance, an SD-WAN Managed Service Provider offering flexible deployment choices, including on-premises, cloud, or hybrid, can modify as per the demands of your company and help maintain the sustainability.
Carrying such options shows your commerce-capturing agility and makes you stand out against the rivals in competitive marketplaces.
Network Performance and Reliability
Performance and reliability should be at the top of your requirements list when it comes to SD-WAN. Business operations, customer experience, and employee productivity all rely on a smooth network connection.
A good provider should be able to provide robust service level agreements (SLAs), redundant connection options (such as broadband, LTE, and MPLS), and dynamic path selection to provide the best possible uptime.
They should also have a well-documented history of low latency and availability (uptime). Be sure to inquire about their traffic management and monitoring processes.
Intelligent traffic steering features can significantly enhance the performance of applications, particularly those hosted in the cloud. A bit more research on their history will save you headaches when you have already acquired their service.
Intriguing Insights This infographic shows the various industry stats about the SD-WAN market.
Security Features
Any modern SD-WAN solution has to put security first. The more companies take their digital presence, the more advanced and dangerous cyber attacks will be. Select a vendor that offers built-in security features, such as end-to-end encryption, next-gen firewalls, secure web gateways, and threat intelligence services.
Additionally, ensure the solution meets industry standards like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS if relevant to your business. It’s important not to sacrifice performance for security.
The best providers always provide protection and speed simultaneously. Remember, your SD-WAN solution is one of your first lines of defense. Selecting a service with poor security will compromise your whole operation and make everything not worth it.
Application Awareness
Not all network traffic is created equal, and your SD-WAN solution should know that. A reliable and smart provider will provide routing systems that detect and prioritize traffic according to your locations.
Business-critical applications like VoIP, video conferencing, and CRM systems must also take priority over less time-sensitive activities like software updates. These setups will provide an awesome user experience even in the peak website traffic areas.
You can ask your provider about the real-time traffic management techniques and various approaches to optimize the website. This ability to tune performance based on specific application needs can be the difference between frustrated workers and seamless processes.
Interesting Facts The percentage of enterprises using managed SD-WAN services increased from 62% in 2020 to over 66% in 2023, according to a TechTarget report.
Management and Visibility
Managing a network is not like seeing your obstacles through a fog. Your SD-WAN provider should provide you with centralized, intuitive management that will give you real-time visibility into network performance, application usage, and security threats, all in one place.
This allows your IT teams to make quick decisions on small issues and try to control them before they get bigger.
You can seek out automated reporting, customizable alerting, and seamless policy enforcement across all the sites. Moreover, you will earn extra credit points if the platform supports API integration with your current IT systems.
The easier it is to get visibility and control of your network, the better you will be prepared to optimize resources, minimize downtime, and optimize the user experience.
Customer Support and Expertise: Your Partner Matters
Last but definitely not least, it is the human factor that you need to consider. No matter how good a platform is, sooner or later, you’re going to need assistance, and when you do, you’re going to want to be able to rely on the experts.
Select a provider with attentive, extremely knowledgeable customer support. Ideally, customer support should be on 24/7 and should have separate personnel for onboarding, troubleshooting, and upgrades.
Furthermore, ask for their escalation process, their response time, and their customer satisfaction scores. Also, you can ask if they have any hands-on experience in your business line.
Companies that will understand your particular problems will end up offering solutions that will suit your specifics, not just cookie-cutter solutions.
Great support is not just a good thing to have, but it should be a priority for any solution that you acquire for your business.
Choosing the right SD-WAN service provider is a step that will directly affect your company’s growth, security, and performance. Assessing various aspects like network strength, performance optimization, and application awareness etc. will provide a long-lasting success.
You need to refrain from jumping into a quick decision — go slow and study each provider closely, and determine if they align with your company’s goals and vision. The provider you selected should be futuristic and dependable to make necessary changes in the framework in the constantly evolving digital landscape. Choose wisely, and your network will become a good source of genuine competitive advantage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ans: SD-WANs benefit organizations by removing expensive routing hardware and instead provisioning connectivity and services from a single location.
Ans: Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) is a technology that helps organizations reduce networking costs, improve network performance, streamline network management, and improve network reliability.
Ans: Two major weaknesses of SD-WAN are its potential to introduce security vulnerabilities if not configured correctly, particularly with direct internet access at branch locations. The complexity involved in troubleshooting issues due to the dynamic and varied nature of SD-WAN configurations.
