October 2020 Overcoming Global Challenges for WAN and Network Management
In today’s world, seamless communication and connectivity are more important than ever. Companies with a global presence face the challenge of connecting their locations and teams in regions across the world in a cost-effective and manageable way.
It can be cost-prohibitive to implement a single MPLS Wide-Area-Network (WAN) globally. Global MPLS providers often have cost structures that require large access fees in countries in which the carrier is not incumbent.
Many of our global customers have chosen to implement multiple network solutions regionally. A combination of MPLS Wide-Area-Network and in-country Internet services with regionally managed VPN connectivity have allowed them to communicate.
While this solution allows companies to manage regional costs, it can be more difficult to manage and support requiring more IT man hours.
Regional IT teams must manage and support the various solutions in place or engage local, in-region Managed Service Providers (MSP) to assist.
Additionally, documentation and IT asset & inventory control is often disparate region-to-region.
Companies that want to standardize WAN connectivity, infrastructure and support globally have a few options.
SD-WAN as the delivery method for global WAN is a good place to start.
- SD-WAN is a hardware-based solution that allows for connectivity via carrier-agnostic Internet service. As such, Internet connectivity can be sourced in-country locally at a much-reduced cost compared to MPLS.
- SD-WAN can also be managed centrally for all global locations or, it can be setup for regional support. If you do not want to manage the service yourself, a global MSP (Managed Service Provider) can handle it for you.
Global Managed Service Providers (MSP) are a great solution for companies that want to standardize the procurement, implementation, and management of network infrastructure.
Global MSPs can provide a single point of contact for a company’s regional IT teams for 24×7 IT helpdesk and management of firewall and security services along with SD-WAN and network hardware.
By creating a global standard for a company that operates all over the world, it can provide a company with a single format and location for all IT asset documentation. Additionally, the lifecycle and warrantee for all IT assets can be managed in a single place. By doing this, it allows the company to appropriately plan for updates, upgrades, and IT asset replacement well in advance and removes the element of surprise from IT Asset Management.
If you are ready to explore how SD-WAN and Network Management can put your business on top, give us a call.