Transform the corporate workplace with Managed WLAN
When it comes to Internet connectivity in an organization, user expectations are sky high! Employees and guests, alike, expect fast, secure and highly available WLAN services the moment they step into office premises. To match this growing demand, several organizations have opted for subscription basedΒ Managed WLAN services.
Apart from easing business operations and enriching the corporate work culture, Managed WLAN services contribute directly to business productivity and profitability. To better illustrate the scope and benefits of an outsourced cloud based Wi-Fi setup we look at how an ITES enterprise can be transformed by managed WLAN services.
Challenges and Needs
In a large global company with thousands of employees spread across various regional offices in India, WLAN systems are complex projects that require dedicated management and support.
For an enterprise spanning vast geographies, the challenge is to provide secure and reliableΒ Wi-Fi Internet access to users in all the regional officeΒ across the country. The enterprise would also require dependable connectivity at aΒ desired bandwidth to ensure a certain speedΒ for executing business critical functions.
What does a managed WLAN service provider bring to the table?
Managed WLAN services is so much more than providing access and managing corporate users, itβs a 360Β° process that starts right from theΒ designΒ phase β a team of Network experts study the organizational layout and its bandwidth requirements and design a WLAN plan based on their analysis.
The technology partner will then start theΒ engineering and installation process. This includes β
- Installing an Internet link of required bandwidth, based on the number of users expected to access the Internet.
- Deployment of Wireless Access Points at all corporate branches, including cabling and PoE injectors/ switches.
- Configuration of wireless SSIDs.
- Building a customized corporate homepage with access control through user login.
Once the WLAN system is in place, the solution provider takes over theΒ daily management and monitoringΒ of the Wi-Fi ecosystem. This takes the form of β
- A cloud based centralized WLAN monitoring console to observe the network and detect, prevent and mitigate wireless attacks. The client is also able to gain 360Β° network visibility and userβlevel and application-level control.
- A centralized authentication system to provide network access based on users, devices type and location.
- A guest management portal to provide access to guests and temporary users.
How does Managed WLAN transform the corporate workplace?
After implementing a managed WLAN solution, the first and the most perceptible benefit isΒ seamless and smooth connectivity for all users. Employees and guests alike can now bank on reliable wireless connectivity that can be accessed easily.
A managed WLAN service alsoΒ frees up the core IT personnelΒ from the daily operations of network management, giving them time to focus on areas of strategic business importance.
The network managers are also given completeΒ network visibility and control. Along with being able to easily control the bandwidth and access, the managers are providedΒ metrics and reports on Internet usageΒ among employees or guests and performance and usage of applications.
In conclusion
From large global organization to SMEs, the rise of mobile usage and BYOD culture has changed the significance of Internet connectivity in a corporate setup. To provide secure, scalable and seamless Internet access, professional solution providers must be brought into the picture. The increase in productivity and efficiency that a fully managed WLAN system brings to an organization equals a positive Return on Investment.
For more than a decade, Sify has been successfully building and managing complex networks ecosystems across the globe. From commissioning the worldβs largest MPLS network to leveraging cloud platforms for enhancing connectivity β Sify has the deep domain knowledge across the entire length and breadth of the network landscape. This experience gives us an in-depth understanding of what enterprises require from their networks and how they use them.
What is driving businesses to consider WAN Transformation?
Todayβs hyper-connected and hyper-competitive marketplace needs enterprises that can react quickly and efficiently to the changing market scenarios.Β To respond with speed to these new market expectations, businesses need 24Γ7 access to reliable and high-performance connectivity. From connecting employees spread across geographies to responding and engaging with customers βa high performance and secure Enterprise WAN is an essential tool for business success.
The emergence of cloud technologies has created an urgent need for companies to reassess their current Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructures and it has become clear that to power their future growth, they need to invest NOW in the next generation of Enterprise WAN. Instead of the usual add-on WAN optimization and acceleration solutions, enterprises must undertake to transform their WAN ecosystem from the bottom up β turning it into anΒ integrated, cloud-enabled networking platform.
To understand the fundamentals of WAN transformation you can read ourΒ first blogΒ part of ourΒ more detailed WAN transformation series.
Over the last few years, while servicing its various clients Sify has acquired a deep understanding of the networking problems, bottlenecks, and requirements of enterprises across all industries. This feedback and understanding prompted Sify to create WAN Transformation services.
What are these business needs driving WAN transformation?
Organizations are continuously dealing with several pressing problems and challenges with their network services; in the long term, some of these issues can severely limit business growth.
Operational complexity βΒ resulting from the need to manage hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of sites and dealing with multiple service providers for non-converged voice and data networks.
Managing infrastructure costs βΒ spiraling CAPEX and OPEX costs while ramping up or down. Businesses are looking for an overall reduction of costs by integrating disparate networks.
Technology Obsolescence βΒ Need to keep pace with technology innovation while eliminating the risk of investing in old or dying technology.
Enhancing Network Security βurgent need for a holistic and unified security system to plug all security issues due to overlapping networks and multiple providers.
Administrative challenges βmanaging multiple vendors with separate contracts and SLAs takes up enormous amounts of time and effort.
Enterprise WAN systems are expected to deliver a vast number of services and support new technologies and trends. The scope of the network services must increase to deal with various factors such as β Data Center virtualization, growing demand for the virtual workplace, the rise of BOYD culture, stringent business compliance and the need for faster, secure and reliable communication platforms. To manage the resulting complicated networking scenarios and infrastructure challenges, CIOs need to carefully consider WAN Transformation.
As the most successful Enterprise WAN service provider in the country, we understand what businesses need from their WANs. We offer services that range from the Data Center, network, cloud, application, and technology integration. Our decades of experience in building and managing complex network environments along with our network integration services make us the perfect partners for your WAN transformation journey.
What is SD-WAN and why do you need it?
To understand the importance of connectivity, let us imagine a day without it. Internet and phone lines are down. Your employees cannot access their mail; your offices cannot make or receive any calls; everyone from the CEO to the middle manager is left twiddling their thumbs as all their cloud hosted data and files are unavailable AND most importantly all your customer-facing applications are offline, turning away innumerable present and potential customers!
That reliable and highly available connectivity (Internet and telephony) is the lifeblood of the business world is irrefutable. In the present hyper-competitive scenario, organizations are increasingly turning to the latest technologies to achieve the best connectivity solutions at the most affordable prices. SD β WAN (Software defined β Wide Area Network) is the newest innovation to optimize WAN technology for faster, flexible and cheaper business connectivity.
SD β WAN explained
Enterprises have been relying on WAN networks to connect their branch offices; to ensure uninterrupted connectivity to remote locations they had to invest heavily in WAN infrastructure and bear the resulting maintenance costs. SD β WAN changed the landscape completely, allowing enterprises to only pay for the functionalities they require with their entire CAPEX investment amounting to small routers.
SD (Software defined) WAN is derived from the Software Defined Networking (SDN) technology, it utilizes software and virtualization technologies to create a WAN network that delivers faster, simpler and cost effective connectivity to businesses. SD βWAN achieves this byΒ decouplingΒ network software controls from the underlying hardware.
According to Gartner, SD-WAN has 4 main characteristics β it must be able to support multiple connection types, it must be capable of dynamic path selection, must be easy to configure and manage and should be able to support VPNs, and third party services.
So how does SD-WAN benefit businesses?
Application-driven technology
Applications are becoming increasingly complex and varied. The needs of these next gen applications can only be met with the flexibility and speed provided by SD-WANβs use of hybrid networks, which provides secure access and fast connectivity at remote locations.
Security
Enterprise WAN networks are now open to a growing number of users accessing it from multiple points and from multiple devices. In such a scenario, security has become a weak point for WAN networks. SD βWAN provides enhanced security, delivered centrally via an API to cover your entire WAN landscape with comprehensive security solutions such as encryption and app firewalling.
Quick to deploy and easy to manage
One of the main advantages of SD-WAN is its ease of use and simplicity; it can provide extremely dependable connectivity to remote locations, which can be deployed within a few minutes and can be easily managed.
Cost efficient
Traditional WAN networks relied on expensive hardware which were seen as a necessary cost of doing business. With cloud-enabled connectivity, SD βWAN delivers enterprise-grade services without any CAPEX investment. With a number of service providers offering varied and competing packaged service offerings, businesses can now pick the functionality they need and pay for what they use.
Centralized control
Network managers have complete control and overview of their entire SD WAN network and all its components. This allows them to monitor the network in its entirety, optimize network usage and ensure centralized implementation of operational and security policies.
Whether you need to connect your HQ to remote branches or connect Data Centers across your organization, SD-WAN hasΒ transformed the network landscapeΒ by providing premium, secure, and simple cloud-enabled WAN connectivity.
With its obvious benefits, it is hardly surprising that SD WAN adoption is predicted to grow dramatically.By the end 2019, 30% of enterprises are expected to deploy SD-WAN technology,up from less than 1% today.
With the industry revenue expected to touch $6 billion by 2020, service providers are trying to attract new customers by offering a variety of SD-WAN based innovative services, which range from NaaS (Network as a Service) to specialized WAN appliances to cloud based WAN solutions. And as their legacy WAN technology comes up for technology upgrades, businesses will certainly consider these options.
Sifyβs converged ICT ecosystem β comprising infrastructure and service offerings for cloud, telecom and Data Centers, allows it to offer enterprises end-to-end network services. Our SLA backed services will transform your business connectivity with enhanced network availability, reliability, performance and security.
Enterprise WAN: The past and the future
WAN β Wide Area Network, the three magic words that connect our world. Simply put, WAN is the network that connects local areas spread across the world.
The wordΒ networkΒ might conjure visions of tangled cables and blinking routers, but we have come a long way from the days when a 9.6 Kbps line was considered fast! Since its inception in the 1970s, WAN has been responsible for connecting people and facilitating business.
We trace the WAN journey through all its technological leaps from the 1970s to the present day and take a quick peek into the future of Enterprise WAN.
WAN evolution β 1970s to the present day
The late 1970s saw, what could be called, the start of WAN withΒ X.25 NetworksΒ β a popular option with the maximum speed of 9.6 Kbps, which was used by many companies at that time.
The 1980s saw considerable innovations in WAN technology and through the decade network speeds of leased point-to-point lines kept improving. 1987 saw Cisco introducingΒ routersΒ to replace remote bridges.
At the beginning of 1990s,Β frame relayΒ service was introduced and revolutionized the enterprise WAN industry by drastically reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency. In less than a decade, even the most reluctant organizations were using the technology.
The next big leap came withΒ MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)Β β a successor to Frame Relay. Since its launch in early 2000s, it has been widely adopted by the majority of enterprises. It provides an IP based service to deliver voice, data and video on one network. Over time,WAN optimizationΒ technology has been added to MPLS networks to squeeze out more bandwidth and lower costs.
Enterprise WAN in the coming decade
Plagued by performance and reliability issues, WAN technology could not get the desired flexibility and cost effectiveness that other Internet based services achieved.
Cloud computing platforms changed this. SD- WAN (Software Defined-WAN) is the technology which will be the foundation of the next generation of enterprise WAN. It is software controlled, virtualized Network delivered through the cloud; with all the cloud related benefits of scalability, cost effectiveness and fast deployment.
Now that cloud service providers are offering cloud aligned network solutions, organizations can finally get access to the next generation of WAN to keep pace with cloud-based application.
Organizations need to move from using widely disparate and hybrid networks to integrated cloud-enabled networking platforms that can provide seamless manageability, high performance and high degrees of resilience and security. Watch this insightful video on WAN transformation
