It’s difficult to operate today’s networks with yesterday’s technology. Many networks have grown organically over the years to keep up with user demands, but have become challenging and expensive to manage in the process. As organizations scale, the complexity and cost of legacy IT systems, like multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), can strain performance and budgets, making it challenging to add locations or new capabilities to meet operational needs.

Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) offers increased performance alongside efficiencies that can reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). Not only does it allow for networking with less expensive internet connections, its architecture provides much more flexibility in the way bandwidth is managed across different locations and applications. This brief will explore the ways SD-WAN from a managed provider can reduce expenses while maintaining a higher standard of network reliability, security, visibility and control business operations require.