An efficient network starts with security

Today, organisations need a lot of flexibility, which is why they increasingly use hybrid networks. Thanks to technologies such as IP VPN, both private and public networks can be connected efficiently and securely.

The challenges of hybrid networks

User experience, performance and control methods can vary considerably between private and public networks. As a result, the challenge for IT managers is to limit those differences as much as possible. Ultimately, it shouldn’t make any difference for a user which network a service is on. Moreover, securing a hybrid network is a challenge in and of itself. Inspections and security policies must be applied to network traffic regardless of the network it uses.

High complexity

Security is generally added as an extra layer once the network environment has been completed. However, this is not the ideal solution for hybrid networks. Different suppliers often use multiple security solutions for the networks. This makes it difficult to install a consistent security policy across the entire network while limiting your ability to detect threats. What’s more, solving problems means tackling both the security tools and the network tools. With solution updates, you have to verify whether the network and the security tools are still properly geared to each other.

Conclusion? A hybrid network with an added security layer increases complexity and saddles your IT department with a lot of hard work. Threats are also more likely to slip through the cracks.

A single solution for network and security

There is a superior approach that avoids the problems outlined above. The network and security functionalities can be integrated into a single solution. This gives you a level of visibility, control, flexibility and automation that is otherwise impossible.

Orange offers advanced solutions that integrate network and security, from data centre to branch and home worker. This is how we achieve access control, network segmentation and Zero Trust in your data centre. For network management and branch security we offer you a single platform with a transparent dashboard. Thanks to this platform, home workers benefit from the same user experience they expect at the office. These benefits help accelerate the digital transformation of your business.