How best practices for SD-WAN, 5G, and network slicing work together to provide enterprise value
In a perfect world, return on investment (ROI) is a simple equation comparing the cost of an initial investment to the income it has generated. That equation becomes complicated when enterprises begin to factor in business results that can’t always be measured by way of dollars and cents.
In the case of SD-WAN ROI, the math behind an investment’s return may not add up overnight. However, when determining how SD-WAN is cost-effective over time, it’s clear that implementing the right SD-WAN solution and its complementary technologies can boost security and performance, which are valuable assets for a burgeoning enterprise network.
Understanding the key technologies that complement SD-WAN architecture
The return on an SD-WAN investment is largely based on using diverse WAN links to reduce network downtime, but that return is further enhanced by the enterprise-level adoption of three current and emerging technologies.
Traffic steering
Using a software-defined router to recognize specific traffic attributes and steer that traffic to specific WAN links is a fundamental principle of any SD-WAN deployment model. Essentially, traffic steering technology guides network traffic to a designated lane, improving quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS) by helping to ensure the delivery of bandwidth-intensive or mission-critical data isn’t bogged down by nonessential traffic.
Zero trust
An effective SD-WAN solution includes improved security through design over a zero-trust network, as opposed to traditional VPN tunnels. Zero trust architecture supports end-to-end security by assuming that every attempt to join the network is a possible threat. Regardless of user credentials, access is continuously authenticated throughout their session and the act of crossing segmentation boundaries is negated without verification, ultimately protecting sensitive data and reducing the likelihood of a breach.
Network slicing
Virtual network slices — which require a 5G standalone core — are segregated pieces of the 5G network, each optimized for a defined business purpose based on coverage, latency, speed, security, and throughput needs. Using SD-WAN technology to steer traffic to its designated slice, network slicing has the potential to increase network flexibility and security, paving the way for new applications and data-driven innovation across enterprises once it is commercially available.
Addressing the weaknesses of SD-WAN
To successfully assess its ROI, a business must understand the weaknesses of SD-WAN architecture — the majority of which come with traditional wired links. SD-WAN best practices in today’s world include using 5G or LTE as a primary or secondary SD-WAN link to mitigate the deficiencies of wired connectivity. Here are a few ways cellular broadband and cloud-based management provide ROI-boosting benefits.
Time to service
Depending on the service location, provider availability, customer queue, and whether the fiber needs to be buried or run on overhead lines, establishing new wired broadband service can take days, weeks or even months to accomplish. Alternatively, some cellular broadband solutions enable zero-touch deployment, putting businesses online in a matter of minutes.
Consolidated management
As networks scale, the complexity of managing SD-WAN access and security policies can become unwieldy. Without a consolidated policy engine between SD-WAN and security, and an intuitive cloud-based management system in place, the application of common policies across dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of users and applications can take IT teams weeks to deploy.
Performance guarantees
MPLS technology is highly secure with an end-to-end performance guarantee that can’t be replicated on a 4G or 5G network. However, that changes with the introduction of 5G network slicing. Because network slicing can deliver service-level guarantees, enterprises will finally have a solution that empowers them to make the switch from MPLS to cellular broadband exclusively.
Putting it all together: achieving the best SD-WAN ROI
Because data plans can vary across carriers and by location, specific monetary impacts are difficult to calculate when it comes to SD-WAN ROI. But that doesn’t mean a positive return on investment can’t be achieved.
SD-WAN is inherently valuable because of its reliability and improved QoE. By transitioning some or all SD-WAN links to cellular, enterprise businesses position themselves for quicker activation times and improved network performance and uptime at sites and in vehicles. Additionally, the ability to steer traffic away from certain WAN links to conserve data results in data optimization that translates to efficient rate plan management, better performance of business-critical applications, and better overall productivity.
In addition to the 5G standard being based on a zero trust network architecture, network slicing — which serves as the next evolution of 5G technology — will enhance 5G security even further to help prevent data breaches. The average cost of a data breach is $4.35 million globally and $9.44 million in the United States. Even though the costs of network slicing services aren’t yet standardized across carriers, the ROI of this up-and-coming 5G feature is a safety net that enterprise businesses should begin researching now.
Businesses can further increase their ROI by implementing a consolidated 5G SD-WAN and security solution that allows common policies to be deployed across groups or entire networks, resulting in reduced operation costs for lean IT teams and faster deployment.
Investing in the future of your business is just as important as funneling cash into day-to-day activities. SD-WAN ROI has the potential to be high when enterprises not only improve the efficiency and security of current operations, but also capitalize on the forward-facing edge of networking technologies.