Q & A
EDITOR ’ S
AMRITESH ANAND , ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT – PRE SALES , IN2IT TECHNOLOGIES
A fresh era of networking has arrived , introducing the hybrid framework and the hybrid office while reviving the capabilities of software-defined wide area network ( SD-WAN ). So , what does this mean for channel partners and today ’ s business and why is everyone talking about SD-WAN when just the other day , like the mainframe , it was
While speed and performance are important , security is the single most critical network infrastructure consideration today .
reported dead ? This is because the pandemic changed everything by redefining the need for remote working . Many organisations have since adopted new hybrid models that deliver both remote work capabilities and office collaboration , with remote work proving an overwhelming success for both employees and employers , with the advantages of a hybrid work culture becoming clearly apparent in the past two years . Thanks to underlying technologies like SD-WAN and cloud adaptation , remote working has now become realistic for every organisation to plan and deploy . However , it is critical to ensure this planning is done properly , considering all the factors that must be addressed before and during any new network implementation for hybrid workspaces .
Many organisations have already planned and adapted to their new ways of working which are supported and enhanced through collaborative tools and remote application access . This makes it extremely important to ensure that enterprise networks are quality driven and capable of understanding ,
managing , and prioritising various types of networks and application traffic , depending on user requirements and communication type . Customer Relationship Management ( CRM ) tools are critical for operations and need to be accessed remotely and securely . More critical , however , is the requirement for security as the risk of cyber breach is higher when resources no longer ‘ sit ’ behind the organisation ’ s firewall when working remotely . With this in mind , channel partner must plan network elements to ensure that they are designed and implemented properly and it is SD-WAN that can meet this new way of working , bringing together advanced traffic engineering to provide policy-based performance with stringent security using zero trust architecture .
Since lockdown restrictions eased , many employees now split their time between working from home and in the office . To this end , the three key network infrastructure priorities for powering an effective hybrid workforce have become an SD-WAN driven network , a digital collaboration platform and a more flexible approach to security . A network infrastructure that is SD-WAN allows organisations to centrally deploy and manage branches and remote users , providing advanced traffic engineering for policy-based network traffic prioritisation that manages the changes and challenges of hybrid workforce network activity .
While speed and performance are important , security is the single most critical network infrastructure consideration today , given the rise of cybercrime and remote workers . As transactions move to the cloud and the Internet , networks have become highly distributed , creating additional attack surfaces . To counter this , most SD-WAN service providers operate from a Zero Trust security architecture which assumes that there is no inside network and that every user and device are not to be trusted by default . Every user access request and transaction must pass through strong authentication and authorisation processes defined using zero trust policies over the SD-WAN network . Here , SD-WAN based networking prioritises specific cloud-based collaboration tools to ensure users have a low-latency unified communications experience .
SD-WAN networking and multi-cloud environments are the dynamic technology duo that will enable organisations to leap ahead of the pack when it comes to the design and implementation of hybridcapable , resilient networks . •
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