FINAL WORD
tends to subside. When it comes
to enterprise networking, SD-WAN
(Software-Defined Wide Area Network)
is one technology that has many CIOs
on the fence at the moment.
Yet, it is expected to reach the Plateau
of Productivity in only a few years –
which means that forward looking
enterprises should start planning their
move to this emerging technology
now to make sure they won’t be
playing catch-up with their more agile
competitors later.
While it might be tempting to sit tight,
early movers in SD-WAN will have the
advantage, and any arguments for not
taking the plunge with the technology
can be easily rebuked.
If it isn’t broken . . .
As enterprise bandwidth demands
continue to grow, it is becoming
prohibitively expensive for the CIO
to continue adding more and more
dedicated network capacity for their
private WAN. On the other hand,
security and reliability concerns are
increasing with the public Internet,
which is not fit for purpose when it
comes to business-critical applications.
As network traffic continues on its
upward trajectory, congestion is likely to
have a detrimental effect on end-user
experience, leading to jitter and lag when
accessing cloud-based applications.
And, as technologies such as the
Internet of Things, machine learning,
cognitive computing, artificial
intelligence and real-time data
analytics become more and more
widely adopted, network congestion
will worsen. So, simply sticking to the
way things have been done for years
won’t work in the long term.
Instead, more and more CIOs are
realising the benefits of hybrid
enterprise networks, which combine
the scalability of the public Internet
with the reliability and security of a
private WAN.
These hybrid networks and SD-
WAN are a perfect match. One of
the benefits of SD-WAN is that it
enables users to do more with existing
bandwidth by giving the CIO control
over how traffic is routed, over the
Internet or the private network,
and how bandwidth is allocated for
different applications.
This ensures that cloud-based unified
communication and collaboration
applications, for example, deliver a
seamless experience both over low-
bandwidth instant messaging and data-
hungry video.
I don’t want to be the guinea pig . . .
Adopting an untried technology
takes guts. It can be risky and some
CIOs and organisations are more
risk-averse than others. Having said
that, I actually wouldn’t advise
any enterprise with thousands
of employees to deploy SD-WAN
immediately across all geographies.
The best, least daunting and least
risky approach is to start with a small
implementation first. And, of course, the
CIO should ask their SD-WAN supplier
for case studies and customer references
to get insights into how the specific
solution has performed in the real world
to date, and help avoid potential pitfalls
with the deployment.
“THE BEAUTY OF SD-WAN
IS THAT IT REDUCES THE
NEED FOR HARDWARE
SIGNIFICANTLY, WHICH IN
TURN REDUCES COSTS TOO.”
90
INTELLIGENTCIO
James Parker, Chief Revenue
Officer, Tata Communications, says
CIOs should get to grips with new
technology before their competitors
beat them to it
The cost will spiral . . .
Rolling out a nascent technology that
hasn’t been widely adopted yet can
come with certain surprises, including
unanticipated or even hidden costs. To
help keep the budget in check, the CIO
should work hand-in-glove with the SD-
WAN provider from the start to plan the
circuit design and associated costs. This
includes forecasting for any areas such
as connectivity, capacity or equipment
which might require extra spend.
Still, the beauty of SD-WAN is that
it reduces the need for hardware
significantly, which in turn reduces
costs too, as functions such as firewalls
and WAN optimisation can become
virtualised. Furthermore, rather than a
costly rip-and-replace approach, often
there is scope to use the enterprise’s
existing IP router footprint for some of
the SD-WAN deployment. This helps
keep the budget in check too.
Take the leap
The benefits that SD-WAN can bring
to hybrid enterprise networks should
far outweigh any uncertainty that
CIOs might feel. It gives the CIO
unprecedented freedom to deploy
new applications across the enterprise,
www.intelligentcio.com