We discussed planning and deploying an SD-WAN solution in part three of our SD-WAN mini-series.
When explaining who could use SD-WAN technology, we touched on a few potential applications.
Today, we’ll explore five of those use cases in greater depth, showing you the real value SD-WAN provides.
Retail: optimized multi-location connectivity
Calling the retail landscape challenging would be putting it lightly. Modern retail chains no longer operate solely out of brick-and-mortar outlets but also increasingly rely on virtual storefronts.
This means ensuring a frictionless shopping experience across all online and offline locations to discourage prospective customers from shopping with a competitor.
Tight profit margins and huge fluctuations in demand during seasonal holidays add even more roadblocks that retailers must overcome.
>SD-WAN technology connects store locations, data centers, distribution centers, and warehouses through a virtual network with centralized management and policy enforcement. Through intelligent traffic routing and resource scaling, administrators can easily manage traffic during peak shopping periods, avoiding slowdowns, shutdowns, and lost sales in the process.
SD-WAN also tends to be more cost-effective compared to traditional options, allowing retailers to support an omnichannel shopping experience without breaking their budgets.
Financial services: enhanced security across multiple branches
Finance is also one of the most heavily regulated industries, and each jurisdiction has its own strict requirements for data and network security. This presents banks and other organizations in the financial sector with a unique challenge.
They need to ensure consistent connectivity and service levels across multiple branches while also supporting an extremely high level of security.
SD-WAN technology fulfills this need, especially when augmented by artificial intelligence or deployed as part of SASE. Sensitive financial information is conveyed exclusively through an encrypted virtual network under the full control of administrators. This network can link everything from ATM networks to branch offices and data centers, allowing data to be shared freely without sacrificing security.
Manufacturing: supporting industry 4.0 and beyond
From a networking standpoint, Modern factories are extremely complex, blending countless connected endpoints and sensors with legacy systems. Managing even a single facility can be incredibly challenging. Connecting multiple geographically distributed facilities can be a logistical challenge.
But with SD-WAN, it doesn’t need to be.
Using SD-WAN technology, network administrators can deploy a unified fabric that brings industrial internet of things (IIoT) devices, traditional IT applications, and legacy operational technology onto the same network. In addition to seamless inter-site connectivity, SD-WAN supports advanced monitoring and automation. Administrators can also use intelligent traffic prioritization to ensure critical systems always receive the network resources they need.
Traditional networking struggles to address modern manufacturing environments. With SD-WAN, manufacturers can embrace Industry 4.0 while preparing themselves for the fifth industrial revolution that’sright around the corner.
Healthcare: ensuring critical application performance
Network connectivity has the potential to revolutionize patient care, but there are several growing pains healthcare organizations must overcome to avoid a potential catastrophe.
First, life-critical applications cannot experience downtime. Anything less than 100% network connectivity is simply unacceptable. Security is also a concern.
Healthcare is among the most frequently targeted industries for cybercriminals. Telemedicine and collaborative medical research both represent attractive potential targets. That’s without even getting into the challenges of regulatory compliance, as healthcare organizations must adhere to extremely strict rules around storing and transferring sensitive information.
SD-WAN technology provides exactly the right balance of security and reliability for network administrators working in the health industry. A combination of intelligent prioritization and automated failover ensures that critical applications remain online, while extensive network security controls keep the network secure and compliant.
SD-WAN technology can also support advanced medical technologies while addressing the bandwidth challenges often associated with transferring diagnostic data.
Professional services: supporting remote personnel
Professional services organizations must increasingly extend connectivity to remote agents, whether working from home or on-site with a customer. Virtual private networks (VPNs) are a temporary solution, offering neither the ease of use nor the bandwidth required for a modern distributed workforce. SD-WAN technology delivers on performance and enables zero-trust security.
That’s precisely the solution these organizations need. Using SD-WAN allows an organization to extend remote connectivity to any site or device seamlessly while also ensuring optimal performance through intelligent routing. Remote personnel thus have access to the same resources they’d have were they at the office, and with the same level of security.
SD-WAN technology reduces the upfront capital investment required to expand to additional locations.
Change how you connect with Momentum
What we’ve compiled above is just a small sample of the many potential applications of SD-WAN technology.
No matter your industry or use case, it can revolutionize how you manage your network. Let Momentum show you how.
Book a demo with us today, and we’ll show you the true potential you can unlock with SD-WAN.
