Network Communications News (NCN) August 2017 | Page 10

TALKING POINT
Three critical considerations
for the SD-WAN buyer
SD-WAN, like all new technologies, comes with its share of industry hype,
says Paul Ruelas, Masergy’s director of product management.
S
eparating the promise
from reality is essential
for any organisation
considering this
technology.
SD-WAN is a relatively new
way of designing and deploying
wide area networks. It is transport
agnostic, able to move data across
MPSL and broadband Internet
links. It differs from other network
technologies in its ability to provide
application-based, rather than
packet-based routing, which gives
enterprise organisations greater
control over their quality of service.
SD-WAN promises much –
application reporting, zero-touch
provisioning, centralised policy
management and policy-based
application routing.
If your enterprise plans to
be par t of the rapidly evolving
digital economy, a rigid network
isn’t going to cut it much
longer. The future of enterprise
networks will be based on a mesh
architecture made up of multiple
connection types transmitting
ever-increasing amounts of data
across global locations.
Think about the new
applications – many accessible
from the cloud – that your
business is adopting in a quest
for competitive advantage.
Consider the massive flow of
data as employees, customers,
par tners and vendors operate
within your ecosystem.
The need for flexibility,
agility and efficiency
Companies are already
experiencing an upsurge in
connectivity requirements at
the edge of the network due
to mobile, remote, branch and
guest users. It’s likely that your
10 | August 2017
current WAN is the opposite of
the flexible, agile, efficient system
you require to operate and
innovate under these conditions.
T h e d i g i ta l e co n o m y ‘ c h a n ge s
w h at m u s t o cc u r w i t h i n