Cloud computing is increasingly recognised as a critical business enabler. Gartner predicts that by 2028, it will shift from being a business enabler or disruptor to becoming essential for maintaining competitiveness. In 2024, global spending on public cloud services is expected to reach $679 billion, with projections surpassing $1 trillion by 2027.
Concurrently, the adoption of multi-cloud strategies is set to grow from 76% to 85% in 2024. McKinsey highlights that by 2030, Fortune 500 companies could realise over $1 trillion in run-rate EBITDA savings by leveraging cloud optimisation strategies, underlining the importance of a cloud-first approach.
Overcoming Traditional WAN Limitations in Cloud Adoption with SD WAN
When transferring data over long distances through a wide area network (WAN), organisations must ensure seamless data movement between different branches, data centres, the cloud, and remote locations, while also maintaining high connectivity and top-notch application performance.
This seamless integration is crucial, yet managing WAN traffic, due to its complexity, presents additional challenges. Moreover, WAN-based network traffic is cumbersome to manage and prone to security vulnerabilities.
Software-defined WAN (SD WAN) addresses these issues by optimising data routing, thereby increasing application responsiveness and network performance. This optimisation is complemented by centralised management, which simplifies network oversight and eases tasks related to configuration, monitoring, and management.
Additionally, the enforcement of centralised security policies via modern AI tools reduce risks, further bolstered by SD WAN’s improved scalability and adaptability with increased traffic. Moreover, the integration of new branches or locations is streamlined, enhancing overall network flexibility.
Why Traditional WAN Fails to Deliver
WAN routes all internet traffic, including cloud services, through the data centre. This routing creates high latency, bandwidth wastage, and inconsistent application performance, leading to bottlenecks.
The centralised nature of traditional WAN architecture means that even distant requests must travel back to the main data centre, increasing the time it takes for data to be transmitted and processed. This is particularly problematic for applications requiring real-time or near-real-time responses.
Even though cloud platforms are built for resilience, the way WAN handles traffic raises concerns about your organisation’s cloud connectivity and security beyond the firewalls, particularly in global operations. These make WAN the weakest link in the network infrastructure.
Traditional WAN’s reliance on a central hub does not align well with the distributed computing model of the cloud, which is designed to boost efficiency and reduce latency by processing data closer to its source.
How SD WAN Addresses These Challenges
SD WAN utilises a virtualised infrastructure to bolster support for applications, whether onsite or cloud-hosted. It enables secure, direct cloud access for remote users and branches, bypassing the data centre.
The infrastructure streamlines cloud connectivity by automatically prioritising traffic and simplifying service provisioning. It employs application-aware and sensitive routing, enhancing performance for essential applications while mitigating risks from the internet’s inconsistency.
Direct cloud data movement reduces latency, boosts performance, and enhances customer experiences. Furthermore, SD WAN’s AI-driven features offer robust security through zero-trust frameworks, advanced firewalls, and comprehensive threat management with proactive detection and response.
Benefits of Adopting SD WAN for a Cloud-first Strategy
SD WAN slashes overheads, enhances cloud application access, and accelerates digital transformation, embodying a cloud-first approach. It reduces operational costs and enhances efficiency by eliminating network sprawl, security risks, and inconsistent performance.
Moreover, reliable connections for critical applications through SD WAN reduce latency, enhancing productivity and business impact. Its comprehensive security features mitigate regulatory and legal risks.
Additionally, SD WAN boosts cloud application performance by prioritising essential applications and enabling direct internet access for branches, a cornerstone of the cloud-first strategy. It ensures dynamic scalability and reliability so employees can work efficiently and improve customer experiences through consistent and rapid access to cloud applications.
Becoming Cloud-first with Epsilon SD WAN Managed Services
Epsilon transforms your WAN with a managed SD WAN solution, making it cloud-optimised and application-aware. This service streamlines the management of your global infrastructure, regardless of the data network.
Whether integrated with Epsilon’s secure networks or your own, our managed SD WAN service monitors and optimises WAN performance, enhancing application effectiveness, security, and dependability. As a managed service, Epsilon lightens your IT team’s load by handling the design, configuration, and maintenance.
Ready to enhance your WAN capabilities? Contact us today to discover how Epsilon’s managed SD WAN service can optimise your organisation’s network efficiency, security, and performance. Let us help you simplify the complexity of global network management.
