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By Marcel Mathias, Director of Research and Development at Blockbit

 

The advancement of Cloud Computing has brought a series of competitive advantages for companies. Not surprisingly, research shows that, within two years, most large organizations will have adopted some type of cloud-based resource. On the other hand, the expansion of digital offers has also caused its challenges. Among them, the transformation of models and requirements around corporate networks.
 
In addition to promoting local connection, IT teams now need to overcome the challenges of connecting hybrid structures, which integrate physical and virtual infrastructure as parts of the same operation. It is in this scenario that software-defined networks (SD-WAN) have been gaining ground as a practical solution to accelerate companies' strategic plans.
 
With SD-WAN platforms, networks evolve and gain power to more easily concentrate and distribute information about the units, locations and structures of companies of different sectors and sizes. This is the way to facilitate the analysis of the use of your IT resources and decision making guided by results.
 
SD-WAN solutions optimize the local connection in a new way and streamline the integration process between the various units and structures that make up organizations today. Its adoption allows simplifying the management of increasingly complex environments, improving the performance of operations and reducing costs, especially by preventing companies from maintaining dedicated links to meet the connection demands of their teams and departments.
 
We estimate that it is possible to reduce the cost of remote connections by up to 70% by replacing dedicated MPLS links with modern SD-WAN networks, which have features that help ensure the best data traffic, maximizing connection performance and productivity of corporate users.
 
With the growing demand for speed and efficiency in innovation processes, companies should consider SD-WAN as a way to make the most of the benefits of infrastructure hybridization. In this way, they can help teams to make better use of their potential.
 
However, it is necessary to understand that the application of an SD-WAN network requires attention to some important points. It is necessary to look for platforms that offer visibility and security as a central part of its scope. That's because not all solutions integrate security controls. With virtual threats growing dramatically in recent years, organizations need to prepare to integrate local and digital services, but without renouncing the protection of their data.
 
In addition to balancing features of links using criteria peculiar to each company, SD-WAN applications must also have specific tools to protect information traffic - optimize security plans with protection against threats, prevention of intruders, controls access and packet filtering, application controls, etc.
 
The use of software-defined networks is a way to accelerate the pace of corporate digital transformation, allowing integration between new technologies and existing infrastructure within organizations. In addition, these platforms enable the integrated implementation of consistent policies and controls, with actions that help to prioritize critical resources or connect priority users more quickly.
 
SD-WAN networks are an opportunity for teams to promote more agility, productivity and competitiveness. In an increasingly competitive market, smart connection skills are vital and certainly need to be on the agenda of leaders and companies that want to keep achieving success with digital transformation.

Disclaimer: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies

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