Over the last couple of
years we have seen exponential growth in the adoption of cloud
technologies. No longer are cloud hosted applications leading edge but
they are quickly becoming the mainstream for purchasing and delivering
IT applications. This fact is changing the landscape of the modern
network.
Not too long ago most large enterprises were deploying Wide Area Networks (WAN) made up of primarily MPLS and private transport services that were provided by large carriers. The reason for this is they needed an efficient way to deliver their applications to multiple sites either nationally or globally that were traditionally housed in corporate data centers or colocation sites. In most cases that might have been one internal data center close to the company's IT resources and one off-site data center for back-up and disaster recovery purposes.
In recent years many companies have been forced to virtualize much of this data and computing power as data has grown significantly and the benefits of virtulization within data centers offered much efficiency and cost savings. As that trend has been going on so too has the emergence of cloud computing in public clouds (over the public Internet) along with many vendors delivering their applications that way. Enterprises have hugely adopted services like Salesforce.com, Box.net, Zendesk, AWS cloud services, Google applications, and Microsoft Office 365 for a bulk of their application needs. These trends are growing every year and the company of the future is no longer simply viewing their own data center or private cloud as the place where most of their computing is taking place but rather outsourcing it to public/private cloud providers.
This has created a major paradigm shift in the architecture of modern networks. Many enterprises are realizing that instead of needing the traditional MPLS WANs they have deployed in the past there are better options. One of those options is SD-WAN technology (software defined WANs). SD-WAN products and services vary by vendor, but many enable hybrid WAN environments-- dynamically routing traffic over both private and public links, such as leased MPLS links,broadband Internet, and wireless connections. An SD-WAN architecture allows administrators to reduce or eliminate reliance on expensive leased MPLS circuits by sending lower priority, less-sensitive data over cheaper public Internet connections.
While the ultimate goal may be an all-broadband WAN, enterprises can begin this transition with a hybrid WAN. As MPLS upgrades arise, businesses can explore lower-cost broadband Internet services as an alternative for connecting to cloud applications. This provides an opportunity to downsize MPLS bandwidth and only use that connectivity for remaining data center applications. Enterprises can begin to slowly migrate additional applications from the data center to the cloud as desired. Eventually MPLS services could be eliminated all together. There have been many enterprises that have completely moved away from MPLS technology opting for just Internet connections as they have fully embraced cloud technology and this trend is increasing due to flexibility and cost savings.
Hybrid WAN and SD-WAN solutions typically utilize multiple advanced tools to create very intelligent routing of data over public and private networks so that end users can get to cloud applications faster and in a secure environment. Also these solutions usually allow for more reliability as they monitor network performance and can switch from one network connection to the other without major packet loss. This means that you can have circuit fail-overs without losing a VoIP call or video transmission. In most cases there is evidence that VoIP quality is actually higher over SD-WAN networks as they take advantage of the best routing options and avoid network outages. Lastly, these solutions eliminate the need for more costly hardware needed at the edge of networks further simplifying the overall architecture.
When companies make this transition from traditional networks to more hybrid and SD-WAN network architecture they typically see about a 30-40 percent reduction in network costs mainly from the carriers they use. In some cases this cost reduction can be high as 90% if companies opt for an all broadband network and in many retail verticals this is very practical. There is less need for expensive hardware so overall capital costs are reduced as well which adds less complexity to networks and less IT oversight. When you factor in that many companies are very dependent on one or two carriers due to their MPLS and voice networks this transition not only offers cost savings but much more flexibility as it becomes easier for companies to use multiple vendors and to switch carriers when needed. The major carrier they work with becomes less sticky in their relationship to the network and therefore companies have more options to evaluate better broadband options when they become available.
The challenge that enterprises face when they start to evaluate these network options is how they ultimately deal with their voice services and Unified Communications (UC). Their UC platforms and tools are traditionally provided by premise based hardware and depend on MPLS networks to function efficiently. In many cases the main business driver for a large enterprise to change or purchase a large MPLS network is due to voice and video needs that depend on real-time Quality of Service that MPLS networks can offer. This is usually driven by a SIP migration project or UC initiative. Companies looking to adopt better WAN options to support their cloud operations and decrease network complexity ultimately need to evaluate putting communications in a cloud environment as well.
The reason for this is that premise based communication solutions put too much dependence on the need for traditional MPLS WANs and large carriers in order to support the enterprise. The desire for hybrid WAN topology (or SD-WANs) and the need to evaluate cloud communications sometimes go hand-in-hand in order to avoid the challenge of supporting complex internal VoIP and UC applications. Cloud based communications become a natural transition to take full advantage of hybrid WAN initiatives while reducing network complexity and costs at the same time.
Many traditional PBX vendors have started to offer virtualized platforms for their hardware and applications while some of the large carriers have become good at hosting these solutions within their own environments as well. These solutions can offer private cloud solutions for voice and UC which can be helpful for enterprises looking to shift their network architecture but are still very costly and complex to manage. They often fail to take advantage of the real benefits that multi-tenant hosted environments can offer. There is also an emergence of several niche Hosted VoIP and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) providers in the industry that offer a full suite of services hosted in both a public and private cloud environment that do take full advantage of the benefits of multi-tenant hosting and cloud technology.
If a forward thinking company that is quickly adopting cloud technology wants to maximize their investment in less complex hybrid WAN environments they are best served by Hosted VoIP and UCaaS providers as these solutions offer the most flexibility, scalability, and independence from carriers thus furthering the cost savings and simplicity that companies are looking to achieve. I would argue that in a perfect environment an enterprise should buy their own IP phone headsets and other edge equipment but allow Hosted VoIP providers to provide all the other features and VoIP services they need in the cloud as this best lends to hybrid WAN environments and allows companies the most independence from the VoIP vendors themselves.
The advantages of UCaaS and Hosted VoIP solutions include reduced total cost of ownership, the ability to scale services up and down when needed, quicker deployment of services, centralized IT management, the release of new tools and features when they come to market, and increased mobilization for the workforce. What is unique about a network strategy that includes both Hosted VoIP and SD-WAN technology is that the time it takes to deploy new IT infrastructure at new sites can be done in a matter of hours and days rather than the weeks or months with large carriers and equipment vendors. There is also a great reduction in the amount of hardware and equipment that is needed to be maintained at individual sites so IT burden is greatly reduced.
The continued growth and adoption of cloud technologies will force the modern network to evolve making it much less complex and easier to manage. As this happens enterprises will be able to adapt to market changes quickly sizing their operations up and down as needed. This will have a major impact on carriers and network service providers making enterprises less dependent on them. The end result will be IT resources and budgets that can be better allocated for more pressing concerns in today's marketplace like IT security, further cloud adoption, and business analytics which can help IT executives create more profit centers rather than cost centers.
Not too long ago most large enterprises were deploying Wide Area Networks (WAN) made up of primarily MPLS and private transport services that were provided by large carriers. The reason for this is they needed an efficient way to deliver their applications to multiple sites either nationally or globally that were traditionally housed in corporate data centers or colocation sites. In most cases that might have been one internal data center close to the company's IT resources and one off-site data center for back-up and disaster recovery purposes.
In recent years many companies have been forced to virtualize much of this data and computing power as data has grown significantly and the benefits of virtulization within data centers offered much efficiency and cost savings. As that trend has been going on so too has the emergence of cloud computing in public clouds (over the public Internet) along with many vendors delivering their applications that way. Enterprises have hugely adopted services like Salesforce.com, Box.net, Zendesk, AWS cloud services, Google applications, and Microsoft Office 365 for a bulk of their application needs. These trends are growing every year and the company of the future is no longer simply viewing their own data center or private cloud as the place where most of their computing is taking place but rather outsourcing it to public/private cloud providers.
This has created a major paradigm shift in the architecture of modern networks. Many enterprises are realizing that instead of needing the traditional MPLS WANs they have deployed in the past there are better options. One of those options is SD-WAN technology (software defined WANs). SD-WAN products and services vary by vendor, but many enable hybrid WAN environments-- dynamically routing traffic over both private and public links, such as leased MPLS links,broadband Internet, and wireless connections. An SD-WAN architecture allows administrators to reduce or eliminate reliance on expensive leased MPLS circuits by sending lower priority, less-sensitive data over cheaper public Internet connections.
While the ultimate goal may be an all-broadband WAN, enterprises can begin this transition with a hybrid WAN. As MPLS upgrades arise, businesses can explore lower-cost broadband Internet services as an alternative for connecting to cloud applications. This provides an opportunity to downsize MPLS bandwidth and only use that connectivity for remaining data center applications. Enterprises can begin to slowly migrate additional applications from the data center to the cloud as desired. Eventually MPLS services could be eliminated all together. There have been many enterprises that have completely moved away from MPLS technology opting for just Internet connections as they have fully embraced cloud technology and this trend is increasing due to flexibility and cost savings.
Hybrid WAN and SD-WAN solutions typically utilize multiple advanced tools to create very intelligent routing of data over public and private networks so that end users can get to cloud applications faster and in a secure environment. Also these solutions usually allow for more reliability as they monitor network performance and can switch from one network connection to the other without major packet loss. This means that you can have circuit fail-overs without losing a VoIP call or video transmission. In most cases there is evidence that VoIP quality is actually higher over SD-WAN networks as they take advantage of the best routing options and avoid network outages. Lastly, these solutions eliminate the need for more costly hardware needed at the edge of networks further simplifying the overall architecture.
When companies make this transition from traditional networks to more hybrid and SD-WAN network architecture they typically see about a 30-40 percent reduction in network costs mainly from the carriers they use. In some cases this cost reduction can be high as 90% if companies opt for an all broadband network and in many retail verticals this is very practical. There is less need for expensive hardware so overall capital costs are reduced as well which adds less complexity to networks and less IT oversight. When you factor in that many companies are very dependent on one or two carriers due to their MPLS and voice networks this transition not only offers cost savings but much more flexibility as it becomes easier for companies to use multiple vendors and to switch carriers when needed. The major carrier they work with becomes less sticky in their relationship to the network and therefore companies have more options to evaluate better broadband options when they become available.
The challenge that enterprises face when they start to evaluate these network options is how they ultimately deal with their voice services and Unified Communications (UC). Their UC platforms and tools are traditionally provided by premise based hardware and depend on MPLS networks to function efficiently. In many cases the main business driver for a large enterprise to change or purchase a large MPLS network is due to voice and video needs that depend on real-time Quality of Service that MPLS networks can offer. This is usually driven by a SIP migration project or UC initiative. Companies looking to adopt better WAN options to support their cloud operations and decrease network complexity ultimately need to evaluate putting communications in a cloud environment as well.
The reason for this is that premise based communication solutions put too much dependence on the need for traditional MPLS WANs and large carriers in order to support the enterprise. The desire for hybrid WAN topology (or SD-WANs) and the need to evaluate cloud communications sometimes go hand-in-hand in order to avoid the challenge of supporting complex internal VoIP and UC applications. Cloud based communications become a natural transition to take full advantage of hybrid WAN initiatives while reducing network complexity and costs at the same time.
Many traditional PBX vendors have started to offer virtualized platforms for their hardware and applications while some of the large carriers have become good at hosting these solutions within their own environments as well. These solutions can offer private cloud solutions for voice and UC which can be helpful for enterprises looking to shift their network architecture but are still very costly and complex to manage. They often fail to take advantage of the real benefits that multi-tenant hosted environments can offer. There is also an emergence of several niche Hosted VoIP and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) providers in the industry that offer a full suite of services hosted in both a public and private cloud environment that do take full advantage of the benefits of multi-tenant hosting and cloud technology.
If a forward thinking company that is quickly adopting cloud technology wants to maximize their investment in less complex hybrid WAN environments they are best served by Hosted VoIP and UCaaS providers as these solutions offer the most flexibility, scalability, and independence from carriers thus furthering the cost savings and simplicity that companies are looking to achieve. I would argue that in a perfect environment an enterprise should buy their own IP phone headsets and other edge equipment but allow Hosted VoIP providers to provide all the other features and VoIP services they need in the cloud as this best lends to hybrid WAN environments and allows companies the most independence from the VoIP vendors themselves.
The advantages of UCaaS and Hosted VoIP solutions include reduced total cost of ownership, the ability to scale services up and down when needed, quicker deployment of services, centralized IT management, the release of new tools and features when they come to market, and increased mobilization for the workforce. What is unique about a network strategy that includes both Hosted VoIP and SD-WAN technology is that the time it takes to deploy new IT infrastructure at new sites can be done in a matter of hours and days rather than the weeks or months with large carriers and equipment vendors. There is also a great reduction in the amount of hardware and equipment that is needed to be maintained at individual sites so IT burden is greatly reduced.
The continued growth and adoption of cloud technologies will force the modern network to evolve making it much less complex and easier to manage. As this happens enterprises will be able to adapt to market changes quickly sizing their operations up and down as needed. This will have a major impact on carriers and network service providers making enterprises less dependent on them. The end result will be IT resources and budgets that can be better allocated for more pressing concerns in today's marketplace like IT security, further cloud adoption, and business analytics which can help IT executives create more profit centers rather than cost centers.
