WANs have been built on layers and layers of aging technologies. They are due for software-defined innovation, especially with so many people working from home.
By now everyone knows SD-WAN is changing the way that companies deploy and manage networks. It can replace routers altogether, integrate with existing routers and appliances, and interoperate with legacy sites not yet SD-WAN enabled.
Aging Technologies Can’t Support a Distributed Workforce
Old-school WANs do not support enterprises that need to reliably move performance-sensitive application streams between clouds, branches, and data centers. An MPLS/VPN service isn’t agile enough for today’s requirements. Inflexible WAN technologies like MPLS were never designed for a distributed workforce. The lack of innovation has made WANs expensive, inflexible, complex, and insecure.
Traditional networking approaches are inefficient and costly in a cloud-based landscape
These are just four of the many challenges business have today with their legacy networks:
- Signal disruption: WAN connectivity poses a few challenges such as maintaining 24/7 uptime, guaranteeing acceptable application performance.
- Security challenges: WANs rely on minimally protected infrastructure and are subject to interference. Data traversing the WAN is usually secured with pre-shared keys that are not changed on a regular basis.
- Poor performance: Latency and degraded internet performance is a common issue because MPLS-based networks typically send all of their traffic to the data center.
- Lack of insight: Many WAN monitoring tools fail to differentiate between business-critical applications and general internet browsing.
How Can We Transform Our Networks?
Many businesses that already have remote locations with legacy WAN infrastructure in place are finding that they can implement SD-WAN in a non-disruptive way.
An SD-WAN deployment is a simple and reliable way for companies to take advantage of the cloud while preserving their existing network investment. SD-WAN can classify and dynamically measure application performance to see which WAN link provides a better path for data.
VMware SD-WAN is simple to implement but delivers big improvements
Transitioning to SD-WAN can seem overwhelming, but it is not complex. VMware SD-WAN™ by VeloCloud® was designed with simplicity as the main goal—without sacrificing security, flexibility, or speed. VMware delivers high-performance, reliable branch access to cloud services, private data centers, and SaaS-based enterprise applications.
On Wednesday, July 22, Join our Say No to Legacy Routers: Migrate Easily to VMware SD-WAN webinar. You’ll learn more about simplifying network operations and freeing up IT resources while providing stellar performance and reliability across branch locations.
