The adoption of NaaS applications has enabled businesses to connect globally by simplifying the need for data and applications connectivity. Previously designed WANs are not effective with the unprecedented growth in WAN traffic. The software defined wide area network can help you solve such issues and increase organizational performance. Such a solution allows an organization to adapt to the evolving needs of businesses and improve employee and customer experience.
With companies becoming more dispersed and distributed, workers rely on cloud-based tools and applications to execute their work. If you consider getting an SD-WAN service for your organisation to boost the end-user experience, you must assess a few things about the service provider. Below are the details:
Management functionality
The first factor to consider is the management functionality offered by the service provider. An efficient service provider will provide proactive monitoring to ensure that your network is watched at all times.
You must look for 24*7 tracking throughout the year. With its team of highly skilled and experienced engineers and technicians, the service provider will monitor the network and alert you when an error occurs. It must guarantee the quality of service so that the network is performing at any hour of the day. The monitoring may also improve bandwidth through steering traffic and optimizing application performance.
Deployment process
The process of deploying the software-defined wide area network should be straightforward. The ease of deployment would ensure that you incur lesser costs and complications.
Your service provider will guide you on the ways of deploying SD-WAN, and you can choose from the one that fits your application and bandwidth requirements. However, it can be recommended to have the technology set up through automation and centrally managed. It would help add new locations and maintain the network with much ease.
Hybrid configuration
SD-WAN allows combining different types of private and public WAN connectivity within one solution. A hybrid solution can be ideal for you if you have some appliances running in the cloud and while some on-premise where a small or large portion of the functionality remains within the cloud. Hence, a hybrid solution with private and public options will significantly lower connectivity costs and maximize bandwidth for the applications.
Controller type
Based on the choice of SD-WAN, the service provider must select the most suitable controller to ensure effective management of traffic flows. The different types of controllers include cloud, gateway, and on-premise controllers. While an on-premise controller needs to be maintained by you, the cloud controller can be managed and hosted by your service provider. On the other hand, the gateway controller works automatically to ease traffic and maintain the site’s network.
When choosing your service provider, look for one with extensive experience in planning, designing, managing, and developing complex technology solutions of different kinds. This way, they can guide you regarding availing the best options and recommend the most effective solutions.
Security
It is crucial to ensure that SD-WAN technology is secure as a large volume of data travels through the network. A software-defined wide area network efficiently routes traffic by utilising public internet for a lesser cost. It also means that the traffic is secured. It needs to be done by integrating the SD-WAN solution with security tools and built-in firewalls to improve the security profile.
Consider the above points before choosing the right service provider and deploying SD-WAN to create an optimized network for your organization.
