t cht lk
“
WE BELIEVE
THAT SD-WANS
WILL CONTINUE
TO COME INTO
THEIR OWN
DURING 2018,
SHOWCASING
THEIR REAL
VALUE
PROPOSITION IN A
MULTI-FACTORED
MANNER.
Hughes believes that in 2018, most
enterprises will start to adopt a ‘cloud-first’
SD-WAN architecture designed to efficiently
and effectively support the ongoing
evolution in their application mix.
The new WAN edge will replace the
traditional branch router
With SD-WAN as a foundation, a new class
of centrally-orchestrated, application-driven
WAN edge devices will replace traditional
routers in the branch.
The new WAN edge will enable
improved security architectures
“For years, enterprises have been hamstrung,
forced to choose between backhauling all
branch office traffic to one of several next
gen firewall-equipped hubs or deploying a
firewall at every branch site,” said Hughes.
“In 2018, the new WAN edge empowers
enterprises to make this decision on an
application-by-application basis. Network
managers can elect to breakout trusted
traffic locally at the branch, divert to a
cloud-based firewall service or backhaul to
a full security stack at a central location.
Enterprise-grade SD-WAN solutions also
enable enterprises to micro-segment traffic
across the WAN, thereby containing the
impact of any breach.”
Cloud-based management becomes
the default
Anton Jacobsz,
Managing Director of
Arbor Networks
Jacobsz further refers to a recent blog written
by Silver Peak founder and CEO, David
Hughes, who also notes that the value of
SD-WAN lies in more than just cost savings.
Hughes notes the following predictions for
the SD-WAN arena in 2018:
Enterprises will adopt cloud-first
WAN architectures
Most WAN traffic, to and from branch
and remote sites, is destined for the
cloud. However, the traditional WAN was
architected for branch-to-data-centre traffic
flows, not to efficiently support new cloud-
driven traffic patterns.
88
INTELLIGENTCIO
Hughes notes that the number of devices
under cloud management is growing
steadily, expanding beyond Wi-Fi to
switching and now to the new WAN edge.
“Cloud-based management and orchestration
simplify initial deployment, provide better
ongoing availability and most importantly are
backed with web-scale storage and computer
resources that enable analytics and machine
learning-based techniques that would be
difficult to support in most private enterprise
environments,” said Hughes.
One Virtual Network Function (VNF)
is better than four
Ultimately, one advanced SD-WAN-based VNF
will provide all the networking services required
in a typical branch site deployment. The value
of universal CPE will centre on the ability for
enterprises to select their preferred technology
stack without switching out hardware.
The first SD-WAN-driven listing on
the stock market
Hughes believes that as SD-WAN hits
mainstream, the largest independent SD-
WAN vendors will likely to be able to pursue
an initial public offering (IPO) and list on the
stock market. “We can see from the above
statements that SD-WAN is gaining traction
in the market,” he said. Jacobsz added that
the idea of 2018 showcasing the fist listing
on a public stock exchange of an SD-WAN
would be a symbolic development that
would show how far this arena has evolved.
“Enterprises are well advised to carefully
consider SD-WAN as an optimal solution
for their organisation’s ongoing networking
development,” he said.
SD-WAN technology differentiators
include dynamic path control, zero-touch
provisioning, cloud intelligence and path
conditioning, which ensures private-line
performance over the Internet. n
“
ENTERPRISES ARE
WELL ADVISED
TO CAREFULLY
CONSIDER
SD-WAN AS
AN OPTIMAL
SOLUTION
FOR THEIR
ORGANISATION’S
ONGOING
NETWORKING
DEVELOPMENT.
www.intelligentcio.com