In recent years, enterprises are moving towards digital transformation. These days, remote working has become the new normal. This is why almost all the applications have also moved to the public cloud and use internet connections to access them. So, there’s a need for technologically advanced WAN. However, the traditional WAN is not enough to meet all the networking requirements as it lacks in many aspects. That is why SD-WAN is the right solution that can meet all the inefficiencies of traditional WAN.

Here are some of the points where traditional WAN lacks and SD-WAN work efficiently:

Risks of manual errors in network management

As per the reports and research, most network outages occur because of a configuration error. If your enterprise network is relying on traditional WANs, there are chances of errors in the network. This is because of traditional WANs where everything is carried out manually. This increases the chances of human errors while deploying, configuring, or managing the networks. Any small error in WAN can create a lot of network troubles such as network failure, outage, and many more.

In traditional WANs, network configuration is performed by skilled resources. This means there will be a human intervention which ultimately results in manual errors. However, SD-WAN is the newer approach in which there’s no need for human intervention.

SD-WAN works automatically when it comes to configuration management because of which there will be no manual errors. The inefficiency of traditional WAN also impacts the overall network performance. For this issue also, it is better to implement SD-WAN in your IT practices as it helps in ensuring better performance.

Sluggish service velocity

Another inefficiency of traditional WAN is the slow functioning of applications and services. Saying wouldn’t be wrong that networks work very slowly, especially when there’s a need of enabling any new device or service. If a network engineer tries to check and scale every network’s device then this is going to be tough. Also, it is not an effective approach for configuring each network.

So, it is better to switch to SD-WAN technology to solve the issues of slow applications and services of the network. This latest WAN architecture is a centralized approach that helps in managing and operating bigger WAN networks. Automation of SD-WAN mainly removes the complexity of large-scale networks which is why there will be improvement in the applications’ speed.

Increase in the network operational costs

Your enterprise might witness an increase in the network cost if you are relying on traditional WANs. Traditional WANs are expensive when it comes to implementation and maintenance. This is because they need circuits and leased lines. However, you don’t have to worry about SD-WAN as it is a cost-effective option.

SD WANs are more affordable than traditional WANs as it uses cheaper internet connections. For connecting the different locations, SD-WAN relies on the internet. In addition to this, SD-WAN uses Broadband Internet circuits, 4G/5G, etc. for connecting the users to the devices.

Because of this, the overall operational cost of configuration, deployment, and maintenance will be reduced. A business can’t spend too much on network connectivity especially when it is in the initial phase or the expansion mode.

The enterprises that are still using MPLS WAN need a change as it requires additional hardware. In addition to this, it will require complex procedures of maintenance that can be expensive. If you’re looking for an alternative to traditional WAN then you can choose SD-WAN. It is highly beneficial for enterprises as SD-WAN helps in cutting down network costs of the organization.

According to the reports, you’ll be able to save up to 35% to 40% on the operational costs of the networks. The good thing is that SD-WAN ensures high operational flexibility along with reducing extra costs and maintaining data security.

More security threats in traditional WANs

When it comes to maintaining the security of the network and data, enterprises choose the SD-WAN solution. SD-WAN secures the access points of remote sites and locations to prevent hacking.

SD-WAN features centrally managed networks because of which it is easy to implement multiple security features. However, traditional WANs somewhere lack maintaining data security. Enterprises are switching to SD-WAN as it comes with multiple in-built security tools and features. Also, this new technology WAN makes use of end-to-end tunnels that are completely secure because of encryption.

If we are comparing traditional WANs with SD-WAN then we cannot forget about scalability. Increasing bandwidth and adding new remote sites will be challenging and expensive when you use traditional WAN.

Also, SD-WANs are easier to implement as compared to traditional WANs. The traditional ones can be complex to manage because of challenging management and configuration. That’s why, it is better to make a switch to SD-WAN from the traditional WANs.

FAQs

What challenges can come with traditional WANs?

If you’re still using traditional WANs such as MPLS then you might experience issues like network outage and complex network management. In addition to this, there will be issues of additional network costs. This is why most organizations have started implementing SD-WAN which can solve the issues of network outages, expensive deployment, performance, and security. If you are looking for the best SD-WAN vendors in India for your IT set up then consider connecting with Infinity Labs.

Can SD-WAN solve the inefficiencies of traditional WAN?

Yes, SDWAN automates all the processes such as configuration, management, and deployment. Thus, SD-WAN is the best solution when it comes to removing the inefficiencies of traditional WAN.

To sum up

These days, enterprises are shifting to SD-WAN as it offers better flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and security than traditional WAN. From the above, it is clear that traditional WANs lack in many places which can be solved with the implementation of SD-WAN. To optimize WAN performance and reduce costs, it is better to choose SD-WAN than traditional WAN.