SD-WAN: the motor behind your digital transformation

The digital world is evolving at pace, constantly confronting businesses with fresh challenges around connectivity and security. To help them make the right decisions, Orange Belgium is continuously building its expertise as a partner. We do this through our investments in gigabit connection, fibre and 5G, and through the takeover of VOO and our strategic collaboration with Wyre. This approach makes Orange the partner with the fastest connections and widest coverage in Belgium.

It enables us to support companies that are facing ever-growing levels of complexity. Their connected devices and digital applications are constantly increasing, while employees expect access to applications and data not just at the office but at home and on the road. When it comes to providing flexibility while keeping network management transparent and security levels high, SD-WAN offers an appropriate solution.

WAN versus SD-WAN

A classic wide area network (WAN) is designed to connect company branches and applications, which is traditionally done with WAN routers at each location. The devices determine the network limits and send traffic along standard routes to the right destination. With the number of connection types and the complexity of company networks increasing, there is a growing need for flexibility. A software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) takes a decentralised approach to network management. It adapts the routes of the data flows based on real-time network use and the specific business needs.
 

Flexibility and reliability

One of the major advantages of SD-WAN is its exceptional flexibility. The digital transformation brings ever greater demands for connectivity: just think of home working and the use of cloud applications. SD-WAN uses the available bandwidth in the most efficient way, regardless of your location and the data you are sending via a certain application. This reduces network latency, ensuring high-performance network access anytime, anywhere. Moreover, your company network can be scaled up or down at all times depending on your developing needs.

By providing the optimal connection for all applications at all times, SD-WAN ensures maximum reliability, always prioritising those applications that are essential to your business.

                                                                                  
Efficiency and security

SD-WAN also boosts cost-efficiency. It installs a software layer on top of your existing routers and other network infrastructure, eliminating the need for additional servers and hardware. What’s more, SD-WAN can reduce your company’s network exploitation costs by switching from expensive MPLS lines to broadband connections.

Since security functionalities are built into the software, SD-WAN is also a good choice for protecting your network infrastructure. Another option is to choose SASE (secure access service edge), which combines security functionalities and SD-WAN in a cloud solution.

What to bear in mind

If you want to implement SD-WAN, there are certain considerations. First, the nature of the applications being used. Are you using a local server or is the system hosted in the cloud? Then there is the geographical spread of your employees and their needs for network access. Do they use an internet line, MPLS on cable (HFC) or fibre optic? Wi-Fi or 4G/5G? In all these cases, SD-WAN ensures seamless connectivity, including for external offices and branches. But the main concern is network security. SD-WAN offers advanced security functions such as encryption, threat detection and segmentation.

The right partner

SD-WAN enables companies to flourish in the digital age. Its flexibility, scalability and security allow organisations to unlock new possibilities in innovation, collaboration and growth, while safely navigating the complexity of their modern network environment.