SD-Branch Solutions Are Optimizing Network Management and Security at the Edge

3 min read

In 2018, branch office WAN technology has been increasingly moving towards software defined networking for many reasons: agility, scalability, resiliency and, above all, cost-effectiveness.

Typically, you have deployed multiple customer-premise equipment (CPE) devices – router, next-gen firewall, Wi-Fi access points, and cellular failover modems – to run a branch location network. Most likely, your business has two choices – A) overspend on enterprise hardware that goes underutilized, or B) make do with the risk posed by consumer-grade hardware. In both cases, the branch location network becomes overly complex, and difficult and expensive to manage.

The rise of SD-Branch solutions for distributed enterprises.

Enter SD-Branch - a single integrated hardware platform that supports routing, security, and Wi-Fi and cellular functions that can all be managed centrally via the cloud.

Essentially, IT organizations can now rapidly deploy and provision a “branch network-in-a-box” solution for new locations and enable all branch network locations and security functions with a centralized cloud-based orchestration portal that can be accessed from anywhere.

Simply put, SD-Branch offers clear benefits such as:

• Consolidated and less expensive hardware with a smaller footprint at every branch thanks to virtualized network function delivery
• Decreased costs in hardware, truck rolls for deployment, service hours for management, and carrier agnostic connectivity
• Increased agility and flexibility due to cloud management and remote service provisioning

Building a “Better Branch” while lowering the bottom line.

What if you could delight your stakeholders by deploying an SD-Branch solution that combines security, resiliency, and compliance readiness, at a fraction of the typical networking costs, all the while lowering your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)? What if a device installation and configuration on site took hours vs days or weeks? What if you could pay per feature instead of per bandwidth? What if you could provision those devices remotely?

Imagine turning on and off features seamlessly at any time and from anywhere.

• SIEM and threat detection? Got it.
• Compliance services? Done.
• Turning off unused LAN and WAN ports? No problem.
• Adjust Quality of Service? Of course!
• Automatic failover? Always on!

These are all prime examples of how the SD-Branch concept consolidates and streamlines tasks and integrates managed services.

Delivering a “Better Branch”!

Delivering SD-Branch services can be done without any additional investment or training. While some providers can provide pieces of the solution – SD-WAN architecture, unified threat management, or cellular failover, Netsurion has developed a comprehensive SD-Branch solution with small-to-medium sized locations in mind. An array of self-managed, co-managed and fully managed services delivers the flexibility and agility that you need.

By combining Netsurion’s SD-Branch, SIEM, and compliance-readiness features, you can activate a comprehensive mix of IT services at a cost that makes sense.

No matter how you look at it, distributed enterprises stand to win in this new software defined network paradigm. By delivering increased value to stakeholders (more security and agility), while lowering CapEx and OpEx (reduced costs on hardware and subscriptions), distributed enterprises are optimizing network management and taking on the threat landscape with confidence and strong business acumen.