Software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) technology is displacing multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) for business connectivity, as the complex and open networks of business necessitate a different approach to managing and securing business data traffic, says telecommunications service provider Saicom Voice Services chief technology officer Greg de Chasteauneuf.

The long duration of MPLS service contracts and their inflexibility are a hindrance to innovation, as businesses need to be able to manage the bandwidth requirements of a range of new uses and across many sites quickly, easily and effectively.

“The demands placed on business connectivity are constantly changing, but MPLS is becoming a hindrance to dynamically adding and managing bandwidth across several networks and to managing the traffic of various systems, processes and connections at various business sites.”

Software-defined networking, including SD-WAN, enables companies to securely manage traffic across hybrid networks, as the security and traffic policies are implemented based on the priority of the traffic and can be centrally managed by the company’s network and security administrators.

“SD-WAN brings the control of networking policy back to the centre of the business while pushing the management of traffic to the edge of the network. Instead of backhauling all network traffic to central data centres, as is typical of MPLS models, the policies are pushed to edge devices, which then route the traffic according to the applicable priority and security policies and via the most suitable connections available.”

Data growth and connectivity requirements of businesses are expected to continue accelerating for the foreseeable future, and the easy management of business-critical systems across all the business’s information technology environments, from corporate headquarters to retail stores, is necessary.

Administrators of SD-WANs can perform network service insertions to enable various business processes and systems at any site and then prioritise the network traffic of those systems from a central control platform and according to the business’s rules and policies.

“There are no technical barriers to adoption of this technology, and we have seen significant demand from retailers and large enterprises. However, the system is as easy to implement at small and medium-sized enterprise sites as it is to implement in large businesses.