Why SD-WAN Adoption Is Surging Among Small and Midmarket Companies

Why SD-WAN Adoption Is Surging Among Small and Midmarket Companies

According to a recent Techaisle survey, software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) adoption is expected to grow 145 percent among small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs). While just 10 percent of SMBs are currently using SD-WAN solutions, 25 percent are planning SD-WAN deployments.

SD-WAN awareness among midmarket organizations has also increased. Two-thirds are either moderately or extremely aware of SD-WAN and 32 percent are planning to adopt SD-WAN within a year.

Clearly, SD-WAN is no longer the exclusive domain of large enterprises. SMBs and midmarket firms seek to take advantage of SD-WAN to support growth and digital transformation.

What Is SD-WAN?

SD-WAN intelligently directs traffic across the WAN based on pre-defined rules, using multiple forms of network transport simultaneously. This includes not only multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) but also LTE and broadband connections, which are less expensive and simpler to deploy.

An SD-WAN can automatically adapt to current network conditions and dynamically route traffic based on policies to optimize performance. This prevents network congestion, outages and other issues from affecting the user experience. Security policies are also centrally programmed and updated without manually configuring devices.

This is a major upgrade over traditional WAN architectures. Legacy WANs were designed to connect users to applications hosted in an on-premises data center, usually through dedicated MPLS connections, to ensure security and reliable connectivity. All traffic from remote sites is backhauled to the main data center for security inspection, even if the final destination of that traffic is the cloud. Backhauling causes delays that affect application performance and user productivity.

Why SD-WAN Is Gaining Momentum

Given the increase in remote working and the prevalence of cloud applications, traditional WAN architectures are inadequate. According to the Techaisle study, nearly half of SMB IT time is spent on networking-related issues. Nearly nine in 10 SMB respondents said proactive, consistent network management that optimizes performance is important.

The top reasons given by SMBs and midmarket companies for exploring SD-WAN are:

  • Improving the performance of the network and business applications.
  • Increasing network resiliency and enabling failover.
  • Optimization of application traffic management.
  • Consistent security and connectivity, regardless of where users are working and applications are hosted.

To achieve these benefits and support digital transformation, organizations need the intelligence, flexibility and agility that an SD-WAN provides.

What to Look for in an SD-WAN Solution

One of the top benefits of SD-WAN is time to value. Maximize that benefit by looking for a solution that automates device provisioning and offers zero-touch, single-pane-of-glass deployment and management through a centralized console. You can also quickly and affordably increase bandwidth with business broadband instead of relying solely on more expensive MPLS connectivity.

Intelligence has tremendous business value, so look for an application-aware SD-WAN that can support a wide range of applications. It should also be able to recognize the optimal data traffic path and automatically fail over to the WAN link that will deliver the best performance and reliability. This is especially important for voice, video and other latency-sensitive applications.

While an SD-WAN allows you to apply security policies to all network traffic consistently, it’s important to use a solution with built-in security features that are integrated into the management console. IT teams gain full visibility and control of the WAN from a centralized platform.

Verteks Can Help

Partnering with an experienced solution provider can ensure your SD-WAN solution does what you need it to do and supports your business operations and goals. Let us walk you through the process of choosing, installing, configuring and deploying your SD-WAN to maximize the return on your investment.


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