A Quick Q&A from Our Experts on the Tech that Empowers Remote Work and Better Business
If you’ve heard about SD-WAN but aren’t sure what it can do for our business, you’ve landed at the right place. Our experts can help you understand SD-WAN and why it’s a great business move in the new remote work world.
First, let’s clear up how you say SD-WAN. The “WAN” part sounds like “ran” with a “w.” Resist the urge to pronounce it like Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. At least when you’re around your tech-savvy associates who love sci-fi.
What is SD-WAN?
A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a connection between two local networks. Software-Defined (SD) WAN means that the WAN is managed through software or programming.
What are the benefits of SD-WAN?
The short story is SD-WAN enhances agility, and it’s easy to deploy. SD-WAN networks can be quickly updated to suit the business as its needs change. Add five locations, no problem. Your IT team configures the devices and sends them out to target locations. It’s also easy to deploy since network equipment can be pre-configured and then plugged in for access.
Why is it better than other solutions?
Ease and efficiency add up to cost savings. SD-WAN allows businesses to get rid of expensive MPLS circuits as devices automatically create secure virtual private network (VPN) tunnels to other devices once brought online. This makes getting remote access to corporate resources much faster than with traditional methods.
What problem does it solve?
Traditional solutions like MPLS route traffic to a corporate hub for security and then push back to the remote locations, which causes application performance issues and delays. SD-WAN gets it all done securely without all the time-wasting.
Why is it beneficial for remote workers?
A home-based employee can get their equipment powered up and access corporate networks without direct IT assistance. Plus, their applications work better without all the lag time.
What’s cool about SD-WAN?
An SD-WAN network for business isn’t a static data pipeline. The system can analyze and learn from traffic patterns to optimize application performance. You have enhanced visibility into your network in multiple locations and can see bandwidth usage. That also means you can prioritize and control applications for optimization. It’s flexible, so you can easily add bandwidth and locations.
What does Calyx do differently with SD-WAN?
We want our partners to make informed, confident decisions. That means we look closely at your existing infrastructure, applications, and security needs. These elements inform what an SD-WAN implementation looks like for your company from a cost and timing perspective. We help you understand what type of cost-savings you may experience over time for a big picture view of long-term benefits.
We can also fully manage your SD-WAN network, so there’s no self-administration required. We help you transition to SD-WAN, and Calyx handles monitoring, maintenance, proactive troubleshooting, predictive failures, and replacement of hardware before a failure. It’s all a part of our Calyx Network solution. Maybe you have more questions like: How do I get started with SD-WAN ASAP? Take the next step, and contact us.