The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled businesses globally to embrace new ways of working. According to the IDC, 70% of organizations worldwide will amplify their use of digital technologies in 2022.1 This emphasizes the importance of empowering businesses with high-speed, reliable internet connectivity.
While organizations in urban locations enjoy excellent broadband access, the same isn't true for rural businesses. It becomes even more difficult for companies with multiple branches in hard-to-reach or remote locations. The result? Lots of lost revenue.
The good news is that SD-WAN technology can help businesses in rural areas overcome connectivity challenges and achieve their digital transformation goals. In this blog, we'll discuss the key benefits of SD-WAN for rural businesses.
What Is SD-WAN?
Traditional WANs (wide area networks) use multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) circuits to connect users in different locations to a centralized server. That worked fine as long as companies used on-premise applications and operated within the confines of an office; however, as more organizations accelerate their use of cloud applications, traditional WANs pose limitations like low speeds and latency.
SD-WAN is a virtual network infrastructure that helps overcome the shortcomings of traditional WANs. It connects users to applications in a central server or the cloud via MPLS, LTE, broadband internet, and other services.
Organizations that need to connect multiple branches with high-speed internet can greatly benefit from SD-WAN technology. Additionally, it's suitable for businesses that run several cloud applications and work with a remote and dispersed workforce.
Benefits of SD-WAN for Rural Connectivity
While SD-WAN can benefit all organizations, it's particularly valuable for rural businesses. Here are a few advantages of using SD-WAN for rural connectivity:
1. Guaranteed Agility
With traditional WANs, adding new branches means provisioning MPLS circuits at various sites. Because the process is complex and time-consuming, businesses in remote locations may struggle to install new MPLS circuits.
SD-WAN helps overcome that drawback because it is underlay-agnostic. Whether a branch is using an MPLS circuit or broadband internet, SD-WAN can connect it. It helps businesses in rural areas add new sites easily and quickly, thus improving agility.
2. Enhanced Performance
SD-WAN technology uses intelligent routing to optimize bandwidth utilization. It streamlines network infrastructure and directly connects users in different branches to the cloud. That, in turn, improves application performance and minimizes downtime for rural businesses.
3. Easy Management
With SD-WAN, IT departments get complete network visibility. Modern SD-WAN services regularly monitor network health and automatically adapt to maintain optimal performance. Plus, IT teams can use real-time network data – including latency, packet loss, and throughput – to evaluate network health and troubleshoot problems before they spiral out of control.
4. Improved Redundancy
SD-WAN solutions reroute network traffic around disruptions due to downtime or sudden traffic spikes. If the primary connection fails, traffic is routed via other transport services instead. This helps maintain business continuity and minimizes losses due to downtime, which is especially helpful for businesses in rural areas that often struggle with spotty internet connectivity.
Boost Your Customers' SD-WAN Services With Fixed Wireless
SD-WAN technology offers several benefits to businesses in hard-to-reach and remote locations, including improved agility, performance, and business continuity. BeyondReach provides a reliable secondary connection for SD-WAN users to increase your customers' network resilience even further so that they never have to face downtime.
If you have any questions or are ready to start supporting your SD-WAN services with our fixed wireless solutions, contact BeyondReach today.
Sources:
- https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US48312921
