Posts about SD-WAN

Most mid-sized UK organisations don't outgrow their network infrastructure overnight. It happens gradually: a new office, a shift to hybrid working, a fresh round of cloud applications, an acquisition. Each change adds a bit more load until, one day, the network that used to be invisible becomes the thing everyone's complaining about.

When the network goes down, everything downstream goes down with it: sales calls, card payments, cloud applications, remote workers, the lot. Recent research covered by Computer Weekly found that a third of UK businesses have lost up to £4 million in revenue because of network outages or poor connectivity, and separate analysis puts the total cost of fixed business connectivity outages to the UK economy at £17.6 billion a year.

“We’re seeing IT leaders look beyond connectivity alone as they weigh up the real cost, reliability and security demands of modern network estates. The conversation is still about performance, of course, but it’s increasingly about what sits around that performance too.” Andy Holland, Connectivity Product Manager at Wavenet This shift matters because SD-WAN decisions rarely sit in a neat networking box anymore.

As organisations continue to evolve, so too must the networks that support them. Cloud-first applications, hybrid workforces and rising security demands have changed what organisations need from their connectivity. Where traditional networking once revolved around stability, in today's world it must also deliver flexibility, performance and built-in security. That’s why many IT leaders are now asking themselves: should we stick with MPLS, move to SD‑WAN or adopt SASE? In this blog, we’ll explore the differences, strengths and ideal use cases for each, helping you make an informed decision for your organisation.

Operational excellence in the public sector is measured in outcomes: safer communities, healthier citizens, stronger local economies, and better day-to-day experiences for service users. Yet public bodies are operating under sustained budget pressure, rising demand, complex legacy estates, and a fast-changing risk landscape (including cyber). Technology can be a powerful enabler but only when it is implemented and managed in a way that supports resilient, efficient, and accountable service delivery.

Online learning platforms, cloud-based applications, virtual classrooms, and bandwidth-heavy multimedia resources have become essential to modern education. As these demands grow, many institutions are turning to SD‑WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Networking) to support their digital transformation.

Today, the majority of Enterprise WAN’s are based on MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) connections. However, with the growing number of applications being delivered from the cloud combined with the need to enable direct-to-cloud communications, MPLS is no longer sufficiently performant or cost-effective. The need to increase streamline WAN infrastructure, combined with the interest for cheaper and simpler WAN, is driving SD-WAN adoption.

Only 2% of companies believe they were fully prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Almost 70% of CEOs believe their network maturity level is impeding business progress. Robust and advanced connectivity solutions have never been more crucial to success – but how can companies ensure their networks not only meet current demands, but are poised for future growth?