Many businesses require a wide-area network (WAN), particularly those that have some element of geographic dispersion to them. While a WAN is vital, it isn’t always simple to manage, which means most users will have to devote quite a bit of IT time and resources to the care of such systems. However, it’s possible to reduce the sting of that need for your customers by bringing in a comparatively new tool to supplement WAN operations: software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN).
How Does SD-WAN Simplify WAN Management?
When a partner can successfully offer its end-users SD-WAN systems alongside current WAN operations, there’s room for some exciting benefits.
Fundamental changes to operations. SD-WAN uses software-defined networking (SDN). When using SDN in a network, users no longer need to have intelligent management software in network hardware. That frees up hardware resources, centralizing network operations and making the whole network simpler to manage.
Changes in basic management methods. By using SDN, it also becomes possible to use abstraction in network management. Using abstraction allows the components of a network—apps and programs, mainly—to be run using certain sets of basic rules. That means less active management is required, as some parts of the network can run according to a plan, at least to some degree.
Addition of network function virtualization. Using SDN can also clear the way for more network functions virtualization (NFV) opportunities. That can take some hardware components out of the network altogether and replace these with virtual equivalents. With fewer hardware components to manage, the network becomes even simpler to manage.
Addition of advanced network features. Sometimes, just reducing the number of potential hassles in a network can simplify its management, even if the overall architecture hasn’t changed much. With the use of SD-WAN, it becomes possible to add tools like traffic routing, which smooths out the flow of traffic and improves the user experience. Better user experience means fewer trouble tickets and a closer adherence to service level agreements (SLAs).
How Do I Start Making WAN Management Simpler for My Customers?
For those interested in learning more about SD-WAN and WAN management, start by getting in touch with us at eXemplify, a Granite master agent. We can help supply everything that’s needed to take advantage of SD-WAN. So when you’re ready to give others the tools to make managing their WAN a simpler proposition, drop us a line.