The features of VMware’s SD-WAN that offer the capability to work from anywhere

In the new world of flexible working, it’s important to have the right tools to enable productivity and collaboration from anywhere. With many choosing to work either entirely remotely, or splitting their time between the office and remote work, businesses have been put under pressure to provide solutions that keep work flowing seamlessly. In our blog Work from Anywhere, we mentioned that SD-WAN solutions – such as those offered by VMware – can be the answer to helping employees work from anywhere. But how, exactly, does that happen?

What is SD-WAN?

SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined Wide Area Network. It refers to the application of software-based network technologies that virtualise WAN connections. This provides agility, performance, and reliability for network traffic between remote and branch offices to data centres and the cloud. The benefits of this include increased network agility, easier deployment, more central management and control, data segmentation, and even reduced costs. Ultimately, SD-WAN solutions, like that offered by VMware, steer traffic to applications in the data centre and the cloud, optimise traffic over multiple available connections, and deliver a better user experience to any location. So employees working onsite and remotely will have the exact same quality experience.

Solving challenges

Over the past year and a half, organisations had to find very quick ways of moving their employees to remote work, without sacrificing productivity or collaboration. While many of the plans they came up with were helpful in handling the problems at hand, it’s important for businesses to find solutions that can be upheld over a longer – if not indefinite – period of time. This includes ensuring that key applications are able to be used remotely. Many cloud-based applications that are essential for maintaining productivity and workflow have struggled to function due to issues such as unstable broadband or weak internet connection. SD-WAN helps to resolve these issues by reducing cloud friction, prioritising traffic, delivering security to the network edge without deployment of additional hardware, increasing visibility, and providing a secondary connection to help users separate work traffic from personal traffic. All of these features combined provide remote and flexible workers with the same connectivity, security, and application functionality they would expect in the office, right in their own homes.

New flexibility

As mentioned in our previous blog, flexibility is becoming a bigger trend in several industries. Employees who experienced increased flexibility over the lockdown periods are now insisting on this continuing into the future. SD-WAN is a key tool in ensuring organisations have the tools to embrace and facilitate this flexibility. It allows multiple users to connect to cloud based servers and crucial applications from multiple locations. And it ensures that this can be accomplished with the upmost security for both individual users and organisations. SD-WAN also makes sure that, while connectivity and security are priorities, this is done without increasing cost, or worsening the user experience. This means that organisations can offer their workforce a more flexible approach to their jobs, without compromising quality, efficiency, or productivity.

New experiences with VMware

It’s undeniable that businesses in almost all industries are undergoing operational changes as a result of the pandemic. But with VMware’s SD-WAN solutions, this transition can be as smooth, quick, and effective as it needs to be. Not only does its ‘plug and go’ design make it easy for users to set up without the help of IT departments, but it delivers optimum application performance, provides great visibility, and offers more control. And it’s a solution that benefits employees no matter where they’re working, so remote, flexible, and onsite workers all have the same ‘in the office’ quality experience.

For more information on VMware’s SD-WAN solutions, and how they can help your organisation thrive in the new, flexible, work from anywhere world, contact us at https://info.exertis.co.uk/vmware-sdwan