Fortinet SD-WAN Services

Traditional WAN architecture increases latency and slows down network performance for cloud services. This has led to software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) solutions becoming more popular as enterprises seek fast, scalable and flexible connectivity between different network environments. They are also seeking to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) while providing an enhanced application experience. But an inferior SD-WAN solution can severely limit an organisation's ability to quickly adapt to changing business needs, especially if it does not provide built-in security.

SD-WAN solutions enable enterprise digital transformation by leveraging the enterprise WAN to deliver a better application experience, reduce costs and simplify operations at the WAN edge. SD-WAN enables deep application identification, including encrypted traffic and dynamic multi-path steering over hybrid connectivity options - MPLS, 4G/5G or broadband - to ensure that enterprises can access business-critical applications quickly and easily.

Your advantages

• Better User experience
  

  SD-WAN enables remote sites to connect more easily to networks and/or multi-clouds with lower latency, better performance and more reliable connectivity. When users demand more from their applications and infrastructure at unprecedented speed and scale, an engaging user experience can be critical.

• Immediate ROI benefits

  MPLS and other connectivity technologies are not only outdated, they are also more expensive when considering total cost of ownership (TCO). SD-WAN not only significantly reduces bandwidth costs, but can also help reduce capital costs by enabling the consolidation of different point networking and security products at the edge while providing better control and performance.

• Efficient operation

  As network infrastructures evolve, complexity increases due to the multitude of point products used for networking and security. SD-WAN uses automation to simplify connectivity in mixed environments, including on-premises, hybrid and cloud. SD-WAN enables centralised orchestration, zero-touch provisioning and analytics along with deep cloud-on-ramp integrations to accelerate cloud connectivity.

• Improved safety position

  An SD-WAN solution must have built-in security. Otherwise, it is just another connectivity option that unfortunately becomes an attack vector. When implemented correctly, secure SD-WAN enables secure direct internet access. It is critical that an SD-WAN solution can provide consistent security on all connectivity paths, from flexible WAN connections to cloud connectivity.

Application reliability

With traditional WAN solutions, businesses suffer from a less than ideal quality of experience and struggle to deliver high-performance bandwidth for critical applications. Because traditional WAN architectures are IP-based, they lack deep application visibility. SD-WAN solutions, however, can provide deep application visibility. This visibility can also be extended to encrypted traffic, which is critical as more than 80% of traffic is over SSL/TLS. With advanced WAN repair capabilities, SD-WAN enables organisations to failover mission-critical applications, improve the employee user experience and increase productivity.

SD-WAN is able to intelligently identify applications and determine the best path they should take to maximise functionality. In addition, self-healing capabilities automatically reroute traffic to the next best available connection in real time if the primary connection fails. This automated feature not only reduces complexity, but also provides improved application performance and user experience. Network teams get the visibility they need into application usage across the enterprise, the overall health of the network and specific application-level insights. This enables better decisions to achieve business goals.

Why is integrated SD-WAN security critical?

One of the most important prerequisites for the success of SD-WAN is fully integrated security. Without it, SD-WAN becomes just another attacking vector.

A secure SD-WAN solution is explicitly designed to interact as a single offering, ideally with each element running on the same operating system and managed through a single-pane-of-glass interface. This ensures that all transactions are seen and verified, and any threats or anomalous behaviours are shared between solutions to ensure maximum protection. As part of such an integrated system, the network and connectivity functionalities of an SD-WAN are not only more closely connected to the security solutions installed on the platform. They are one and the same.

Delivering security piecemeal is also unwise. Due to the dynamic nature and high scalability of SD-WAN, overlay security is not only very costly to deploy and maintain, but also often leads to delays in responding to connectivity changes, leaving critical connections and data vulnerable. An integrated system ensures that SD-WAN connectivity, traffic management capabilities and advanced security work as a single, holistic solution.

Delivering security piecemeal is also unwise. Due to the dynamic nature and high scalability of SD-WAN, overlay security is not only very costly to deploy and maintain, but also often leads to delays in responding to connectivity changes, leaving critical links and data vulnerable. An integrated system ensures that SD-WAN connectivity, traffic management capabilities and advanced security work as a single, holistic solution.

An example of an integrated solution is an NGFW whose main components include intrusion prevention (IPS), web filtering, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) inspection and anti-malware. Solutions that combine SD-WAN and NGFW capabilities in a single offering meet the key requirements for a secure SD-WAN - ensuring security and reliability of connections and for the enterprise as a whole.

With the introduction of remote worker policies in enterprises, networks are becoming more distributed. A new network and security strategy is required that combines networking and security with WAN capabilities to support dynamic, secure Internet access for a global workforce working from anywhere. SD-WAN plays a critical role in the adoption of new solutions such as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), enabling flexible and consistent security across all edges.