3 SD WAN
use cases
for enterprises

Today's enterprise users and end customers need to access cloud-based applications and services from a variety of devices and locations. And, many applications require lower latency and lag. Legacy, data-centric, networking solutions have served enterprises for many years, but as global organizations and their wide area networks continue to become more and more distributed, they are increasingly switching to software-defined wide-area networking (SD WAN)—a more automated, flexible and adaptive solution that can help deliver operational and cost benefits.

Here's a look at SD WAN use cases in three different vertical sectors to bring the technology and its business benefits to life.

In an age of software-defined everything, it was only a matter of time before WAN technology got the same treatment. SD WAN effectively virtualizes the WAN by decoupling the underlying networking hardware from its control layer. That means network functions can effectively run as software on any commodity hardware. This abstraction enables centralized network and traffic management, allowing engineers to rapidly push out updates remotely.

Even better, SD WAN allows organizations to use several WAN links simultaneously, mixing and matching them based on bandwidth availability and the type of application in use. That has the effect of optimizing network and application performance in real time, and it can be less costly than other types of connections. Because it's software-defined, connections to new locations can also be activated faster than via traditional WAN infrastructure, and connectivity can be scaled up or down cost-efficiently, depending on demand.

SD WAN is also secure by design, funneling traffic down encrypted tunnels, supporting network segmentation, and allowing managers to easily create and enforce security policies at scale across the entire network. As SD WAN supports multiple network links, organizations also can benefit from enhanced resilience.

Different SD WAN use cases will result in slightly different SD WAN benefits for corporate users. But here's a summary of potential benefits to help you build out an SD WAN business case:

• Increased bandwidth and improved performance at a reduced cost
• Centralized management across branch networks
• Reduced complexity and improved control for IT teams
• More flexibility with connection types and vendors
• Cloud and digital ready
• Improved security
• Enhanced network reliability

Though SD WAN deployments can vary from vendor to vendor, the following scenarios provide a high-level snapshot of business benefits across different industries.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industries with the highest percentage of remote and hybrid working arrangements are information, financial activities, and professional and business services. SD WAN can help enable direct cloud access to workers' homes, eliminating the burden of backhauling traffic while driving employee productivity. Additionally, it's also agile enough to support rapid connectivity to a new branch or ATM location. Companies can help reduce costs related to non-critical remote sites that do not require 100% uptime by provisioning SD WAN across public broadband for those locations.

SD WAN can also help improve efficiencies and deliver cost-saving benefits for organizations that experience traffic spikes at certain times of the year, such as accounting practices at tax time. Circuits normally reserved for failover can help relieve some of the traffic needs, providing additional bandwidth when congestion occurs.

Given the nature of the data organizations these industries often handle, keeping data secure can be an important objective. Keeping data segmented can also be an important component of a SD WAN business case. By helping to support strongly encrypted communications, SD WAN can help banks meet their Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements.

Since the pandemic, many retailers have invested heavily in digital transformation to further the transition from an in-store-only to a hybrid retail experience. That means increased use of automation, hybrid cloud-based technologies and latency-sensitive applications. Bandwidth intensive applications such as digital signage, smart shelves and carts, and beacon-based systems can experience improved performance on modern SD WAN networks. SD WAN therefore helps to deliver the seamless shopping experiences consumers increasingly demand.

This type of SD WAN use case highlights one of the most important SD WAN benefits: That new stores can be up and running quickly so retailers can realize profits faster. That said, this isn't the only critical benefit that retail businesses can observe by switching to SD WAN. Additionally, SD WAN may require less network hardware than older infrastructures, and this can help reduce costs and improve agility. And from an organizational perspective, IT teams can efficiently and remotely manage connectivity over extensive store networks that may include hundreds or thousands of nationwide locations.

The manufacturing industry continues to increasingly adopt IoT technology. MarketsandMarkets forecasts the global IoT in Manufacturing Market to grow from USD 50.0 billion in 2021 in value to USD 87.9 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 11.9% during the forecast period. However, the process of adopting new IoT solutions can benefit from a stable and resilient network like SD WAN that intelligently optimizes bandwidth for critical applications. Industry 4.0 also raises new security concerns as IT and operational technology systems converge. However, one of the SD WAN use cases for manufacturers is that it supports zero trust access and solutions when used with Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). A CASB acts as a gatekeeper of internet traffic flowing between on-premises and public cloud infrastructure, helping organizations to enforce security policies across both environments. SASE allows for merging SD WAN with network security services like secure web gateways and zero-trust network access, enabling more streamlined network management and policy enforcement.

As manufacturing organizations look to expand into new territories and acquire new companies, another SD WAN business case is that the simplicity of SD WAN can help them open new remote sites at speed, while legacy infrastructure could hinder or slow down these expansions. And once connectivity is established, it can be managed centrally, helping improve overall efficiency and speed.

Lastly, for organizations seeking to contract government work, SD WAN can protect sensitive data by automatically segmenting government-related traffic, while at the same time streamlining network resources for added cost-efficiency.