Providers that offer managed services for a software-defined wide area network can help you cope with a sometimes unpredictable environment. Having a defender on your side is good for combating hackers or system malfunctions when intelligent connectivity matters for your network.
With a dedicated team of experts, you have the assurance of consistent monitoring and secure performance across all business locations. A service provider maintains 24/7 technical support to promptly deal with problems.
They also take the load off your internal IT team so it can focus on other business-centered projects. Consider these additional reasons why your company can benefit from managed solutions.
Security Measures
By design, SD-WAN solutions have built-in security protocols. With end-to-end security, employees have confidence that only end-users will access data or a particular application. Additional comprehensive security features help your company strengthen crucial protocols.
For example, a service provider uses this process to protect the traffic that flows between multiple locations. The provider manages the software-defined wide area network with a secure tunnel.
Virtual firewalls work in real-time to block malware or other malicious threats. In addition, you can set access restrictions to certain websites for customers and remote workers.
Optimize Bandwidth
Upgrading to a software-defined wide area network also ensures your feature and content-rich business applications do not ruin the user experience. This solution prioritizes the routing of incoming traffic for each application. A provider maintains a singular focus for managing this process.
As a result, users benefit from optimized bandwidth. So, your next teleconference or Zoom call can proceed uninterrupted.
Lower Operational Costs
The expense of operating a business worsens when you have to pay for repeated technology changes. Factor in lost productivity costs from an inefficient network or security breach. Your next logical choice is to find a convenient and predictable managed service.
You can also choose network elements and technologies that support your business needs. That way, you are not paying for services that do not advance your objectives.
Improvement to Business Applications
Improvements to how your business applications perform are another consideration for choosing a managed solution. Your service provider will set quality-of-service thresholds that support what you need to accomplish. This inexpensive process enables your company to take full advantage of strong connections.
Beyond connectivity, it also uses effective load balancing by placing the most-used applications on less busy channels. Users work with reliable information and avoid data losses.
By monitoring the real-time performance of business applications, the managed provider can develop reports to help you with future capacity planning.
Ease of Scalability
Not being able to scale up network resources can hinder expansion plans. Cost and capacity considerations may not match application requirements. However, a software-defined wide area network allows you to expand your company easily.
Online connectivity enables a rapid network configuration within a new location. Furthermore, managed solutions give you the flexibility to adjust to evolving market changes.
Centralized Management
Managed SD-WAN services provide a centralized management solution instead of manually re-engineering device connections. Typically, your service provider gives you access to a real-time view of:
- Network connectivity performance
- Traffic flow
- Bandwidth usage
- Device health
Having a 360-degree centralized management dashboard also keeps you abreast of issues that need immediate attention.
