WAN), Software-defined Perimeter (SD-
Perimeter) and advancements in the cost
and capabilities of LTE services.
The SD-WAN is a specific application
of Software-defined Networking (SDN)
technology applied to WAN connections,
which are used to connect enterprise
networks – including branch offices and data
centres – over large geographic distances.
At its core, SD-WAN is about simplifying and
automating your network; about replacing
manual intervention amid changing
conditions. It’s about making the network
do more of the actual work that enables the
Connected Enterprise’s increasingly fluid
and flexible network Edge; the Elastic Edge.
Together with SDP, this allows enterprises
to build self-optimising and self-healing
WANs that provide pervasive and elastic
connectivity at significantly lower capital and
operating cost per endpoint.
“
CIO
opinion
CIO
OPINION
TODAY’S CIOS ARE FINDING
THEMSELVES HAVING
RESPONSIBILITIES OUTSIDE OF THE
IT OFFICE WALLS AND VENTURING
INTO INNOVATION AND THE
TRANSFORMATION OF THE BUSINESS.
The impact of SD-WAN on CIOs
For businesses of all sizes and across many
industries, digital transformation is no
longer something on the distant horizon
and nobody knows this better than today’s
CIO. Before the benefits can be widely
realised, IT will need to transform the
complex, constrained and costly legacy
WAN, using a new generation of digital
WAN infrastructure technologies to provide
pervasive connectivity across the enterprise
and beyond.
The recent State of IoT 2018 report
examines the future plans of IT teams when
specifically implementing IoT technologies
and best practices to help improve the
success rate of IoT adoption. The report
highlights that the two largest factors to
consider when adopting these are ROI and
security. The report also established that it
is crucial for IT leaders to have discussions
with stakeholders and IT staff to set in place
strategies and expectations.
ROI and security questions for CIOs to
consider when making the decision to switch
to the new model include:
ROI
• What is the business case for
implementing this initiative?
• Exactly what metrics and benchmarks
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must the system deliver in order to be
considered a success?
• Can the network support the increased
level of traffic and computing that occurs
at the Network’s Edge?
Security
• How will access be granted and managed?
• Does the IT team, with its projected
resources, really have the ability to own
tasks like micro-segmentation and policy
orchestration in-house?
Future of SD-WAN
SD-WAN is only one element of a huge
movement towards digital transformation
and businesses will need to strategically plan
for change. SDN is the biggest paradigm
shift in enterprise networking since the
Internet, but it’s not one thing. There are
different SDN technologies that address
the different network infrastructures that
span from the data centre to the WAN edge.
Likewise, there are different approaches
to extending SDN to branch, mobile and
IoT networks. From a WAN perspective,
CIOs should consider SD-WAN for fixed and
mobile sites and SDP for remote workforces
and M2M/IoT devices.
Technology will develop – it always does
– and it’s up to everyone around it to
adjust. Methods used in the past will not be
sufficient to keep up with and address the
challenges of the future. As enterprises move
towards digital, networking will move away
from a ‘build your own’ approach (IT leaders
trying to build and manage a digital network
themselves) towards a Network-as-a-Service
(NaaS) approach. n
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