Achieving WAN Transformation with Security-Driven Networking

 The need to maximize user experience, whether for employees or customers, has been a driving force behind much of the digital transformation networks have undergone. Things like business-critical applications, data-driven manufacturing and supply chains, immediate access to essential information, and advanced productivity tools require uninterrupted access to information from any place, using any device, and from any location.

One of the areas of the network that has undergone the most significant transformation, largely in response to data and resources being distributed throughout the increasingly distributed network—most often in the cloud—has been the WAN. SD-WAN provides the flexibility, performance, and reliability—providing almost instant ROI—that today’s complex networks require. They enable accelerated access to applications while reducing or eliminating delays and computer engineering definition that can come from streaming high-performance applications over the public internet.

Unfortunately, many traditional SD-WAN solutions also include some serious challenges, the most serious of which is poor security implementation. With few exceptions, SD-WAN solutions are notoriously poorly secured. Organizations looking to protect critical data streaming across an SD-WAN connection are often forced to deploy multiple point products to cover security gaps and meet compliance requirements. But that is easier said than done. The strength of an SD-WAN solution is its ability to monitor and make connection adjustments and fine-tune application performance in real time. This can make it impossible for traditional security solutions that rely on fixed and reliable connections to monitor and inspect traffic to keep up. In such circumstances, not only is developing and deploying an overlay security solution for SD-WAN expensive to deploy and manage, but the security implementation is in a constant state of trying to catch up to a dynamically shifting and self-healing environment.