As more applications move to the cloud, companies are finding multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is no longer sufficient to address today\u2019s WAN requirements. In fact, it\u2019s a little like playing \u201cbroken telephone\u201d.<\/p>\n
Value-added distributor, Networks Unlimited, has recently positioned itself in the emerging SD-WAN market as the sole distributor for Silver Peak, the global leader in broadband and hybrid WAN solutions, across the Sub-Saharan market.<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch has shown that globally, a significant number of companies are making a rapid move from private line MPLS to broadband software defined WAN (SD-WAN). Across Africa, we are expecting the same. Especially when considering that numerous companies operating in the region do business through geographically distributed offices located across the vast continent.<\/p>\n
\u201cNetworks Unlimited is excited to position itself in assisting these progressive companies to both adopt SD-WAN and in this way quickly achieve the benefits of performance, visibility, security, extensible architecture and savings,\u201d says Anton Jacobsz, managing director at value-added distributor, Networks Unlimited.<\/p>\n
Illustrating the rapid adoption of this new technology is the Silver Peak and IDG Connect Survey, which asked mid-market and enterprise companies, what they are thinking about when it comes to SD-WANs. The response was phenomenal and 92 percent of companies surveyed have plans to implement SD-WAN in the next 12 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cRespondents are not simply saying they\u2019re going to make broadband an active link, they\u2019re saying their WAN will be based on broadband. That means reliance on costly MPLS links will diminish \u2013 maybe not replaced entirely, but will quickly wane. It\u2019s pretty aggressive to consider that in a year\u2019s time broadband will become the preferred source of connectivity,\u201d states Nick Applegarth, vice president, sales for EMEA at Silver Peak.<\/p>\n
An important driver for SD-WAN adoption, he points out, is that the cloud is no longer a nice-to-have, but an all-important necessity for any organisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd organisations are showing a keen desire to operate at \u2018cloud speed\u2019,\u201d highlights Applegarth.<\/p>\n
The majority of today\u2019s business applications reside in the cloud \u2013 for instance, SaaS-, proprietary data centre-, remote replication-, workforce collaboration-, and IaaS applications \u2013 and MPLS is no longer sufficient Leveraging the cloud via SD-WAN however enables companies to \u2018spin up\u2019 new services in minutes rather than days and weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cMPLS is an older system that was implemented when broadband was not readily available, and the legacy WAN was designed assuming that most of its traffic \u2013 and its most important traffic \u2013was internal. The WAN\u2019s traffic was branch to data centre, or branch to branch. But today, branch-to-cloud traffic is the fastest growing traffic and the most critical traffic for many enterprises.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe legacy WAN often forces branch-to-cloud traffic to take trombone routes through the data centre, raising WAN costs and impeding applications performance,\u201d explains Applegarth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe move to SD-WAN is set to fundamentally change the status quo of companies\u2019 communication. When it comes to the legacy WAN, the idiom \u2018you can\u2019t teach an old dog new tricks\u2019 comes to mind. A new WAN is needed and the good news is that it is here and ready to be deployed in an instant,\u201d reiterates Jacobsz.<\/p>\n
Yet, what if an organisation is reluctant to transition to a broadband SD-WAN overnight?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the ultimate goal may be an SD-WAN, enterprises can begin their journey with a hybrid WAN. As MPLS upgrades arise, businesses can explore lower-cost broadband Internet services as an alternative for connecting to cloud applications. This provides an opportunity to downsize MPLS bandwidth and only use that connectivity for remaining data centre applications. Enterprises can begin to slowly migrate additional applications from the data centre to the cloud as desired,\u201d Applegarth confirms.<\/p>\n
Immediate or step-by-step \u2013 the transition to SD-WAN has begun in earnest, don\u2019t get left behind.<\/p>\n