TECH TALK
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 and complete visibility and
control over each application. This not only enhances the user
experience as congestion on the network is minimised, but
also empowers the enterprise to expand into new markets
more easily and launch new services more quickly, with their
network as the new digital foundation for growth.
James Parker, Chief Revenue Officer, Tata Communications
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 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
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As more and more SD-WAN platforms become available,
the cost of adopting this technology will become more
attractive for CIOs looking to future-proof their network too.
Furthermore, thanks to its virtualised functions, SD-WAN
enables a pay-as-you-go approach to global networking.
This means that the CIO is able to scale capacity up and
down depending on fluctuations in market conditions and
business needs. For example, a global online retailer can add
bandwidth and circuits in the run-up to the holiday season
using SD-WAN.
All of these changes to the network setup can be automated
with SD-WAN, while enabling the CIO to orchestrate the
different moving parts of the enterprise network with
simplicity and security. In contrast, traditional WANs can be
complex and costly to manage, especially when new sites or
users need to be added, or policies need to be changed. Often
this complexity can lead to a poor user experience too.
A decade or so ago, there was a lot of uncertainty around
the positive impact of cloud computing and reluctance
to adopt it, but today most CIOs see it as fundamental to
their enterprise. Apprehension and reluctance has given
way to cloud-first IT strategies and cloud-powered digital
transformation programmes, leveraging the Internet of
Things, real-time analytics and artificial intelligence. As the
break-neck speed of technology innovation continues and
as SD-WAN moves towards the Plateau of Productivity, even
risk-averse enterprises should recognise the business and
technology benefits it brings and take the leap before their
competitors beat them to it. n
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