Managed SD-WAN

SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined Wide Area Network. Unlike a traditional WAN – which might rely on fixed, private circuits and manual configurations – an SD-WAN uses software intelligence to dynamically manage your network traffic across all kinds of connections (fibre, broadband, 4G/5G, etc.). Traditional WANs often route all traffic back to a central data centre (a hub-and-spoke model), whereas SD-WAN can route traffic directly over the internet to cloud services or between sites as needed. This means lower latency and better performance for cloud applications.

SD-WAN also provides a centralised control panel for the entire network, making it easier to configure and change than older WAN technologies. SD-WAN is more agile, cloud-friendly, and easier to administer, while maintaining the secure connectivity businesses expect from a WAN.

SD-WAN is designed to optimise the way traffic flows through your network. It can identify different types of applications (for example, distinguishing a VoIP call from general web browsing) and automatically route each type over the most appropriate path. High-priority, real-time apps like video conferencing or ERP systems can be sent over the lowest-latency links, while less critical traffic uses other available pathways. If one connection becomes congested or fails, SD-WAN seamlessly switches to the next best link without interrupting the applications.

This intelligent routing means your users experience faster, more reliable access to the tools they need – no more complaints about the network being slow when multiple apps are in use.

In many cases, yes – a managed SD-WAN can significantly lower your WAN costs. Traditional enterprise networks often rely heavily on MPLS circuits or other dedicated links that are very expensive. With SD-WAN, you can augment or replace some of those costly links with standard broadband or NBN connections, while still maintaining secure and reliable connectivity using encryption and intelligent traffic management. This can cut your bandwidth bills substantially (some organisations save anywhere from 30% up to 80% on WAN costs).

Additionally, having us manage the SD WAN means you need fewer in-house resources to maintain the network. We also continually optimise the traffic routing to use the most cost-effective path available. The bottom line is that you get more bandwidth for your dollar and avoid overspending on legacy network infrastructure.

Yes – security is a core component of any reputable SD-WAN solution. Our managed SD WAN incorporates security measures equivalent or better than those in traditional WANs. Every data packet that traverses the SD WAN is encrypted using strong protocols, ensuring that your data remains confidential even when sent over public internet links. We also deploy integrated next-generation firewall features at each SD WAN edge device, which can filter out malware and prevent unauthorised access to your sites.

Essentially, you get a secure VPN (virtual private network) connecting all your locations, with continuous monitoring for threats. We can also segment your network traffic for additional security – for instance, keeping guest Wi-Fi or less trusted devices separate from sensitive corporate data. With our managed approach, security policies and updates are centrally enforced, so you can trust that your wide-area network remains well-defended against cyber threats.

One of the biggest advantages of SD-WAN is its inherent resiliency. If a link in the network goes down (for example, a fibre cut or an ISP outage), the SD-WAN will automatically detect the problem and reroute traffic to other available links within seconds. Your users might not even notice a disruption. For example, if your main office has both an NBN connection and a 4G backup, and the NBN drops, all your site’s traffic can switch over to use the 4G link seamlessly. SD WAN continuously monitors the health and performance of each connection (latency, packet loss, etc.), so it can also reroute traffic pre-emptively if one path becomes degraded. This automatic failover capability means your network can achieve very high uptime and can tolerate outages or issues on individual links without business operations grinding to a halt.

SD-WAN is very flexible – it can work alongside your existing MPLS or private IP network, and in many cases that’s the best approach initially. You do not necessarily have to rip out MPLS entirely (especially if those links are still under contract or serving critical sites). Instead, SD-WAN can overlay on top of both MPLS and broadband links, managing all of them as a unified network. Many businesses start by using SD-WAN to augment MPLS: less-critical traffic is offloaded to new internet links via SD WAN, which frees up MPLS bandwidth for the most important applications. This can improve performance and reduce cost without sacrificing quality. Over time, if you find the internet-based connectivity is performing well, you might decide to phase out MPLS or reduce its usage.

When you engage us for Managed SD-WAN, you are essentially getting a fully outsourced networking solution for your WAN. We supply and configure the SD WAN edge devices (routers/appliances or virtual solutions) at your sites and establish all the secure tunnels and routing policies between them. Our team designs the network architecture to suit your needs – for example, choosing the right mix of carriers or links for each location, setting up application prioritisation rules, and ensuring security is in place.

Once deployed, we continuously monitor the network’s performance and the health of each connection. The service includes proactive maintenance and 24/7 support if any issues arise. Essentially, we act as your network engineering team. You also get access to centralised management dashboards to view your network, but you won’t have to worry about the day-to-day tweaks – we handle everything and inform you of any important events or recommendations.

Absolutely. One of the strengths of SD-WAN is that it’s carrier agnostic. We can integrate virtually any IP-based connection into the SD-WAN fabric. If you already have contracts for fibre or broadband at certain sites, we can incorporate those links. Our solution can also mix and match different providers – for example, Site A could use Telstra fibre plus an Optus 5G backup, Site B might use TPG fibre plus an NBN connection, etc. The SD WAN overlay will treat them all as part of one network and handle the routing over each link according to policy and real-time performance.

Deploying SD-WAN is typically much faster than traditional WAN deployments. Once we’ve designed your solution, configuring and shipping out the SD-WAN appliances to your sites can happen quickly. The devices we use support zero-touch provisioning – they can be sent to your site, plugged in, and automatically pull their configuration from the cloud. This means new sites can be brought online in days (or even hours in urgent cases) instead of waiting weeks or months for complex installations.

As for scalability, SD-WAN is highly scalable by design. Whether you add 1 site or 100 sites, the centralised control remains the same, and we can template configurations to expedite new deployments. Bandwidth can be increased easily by adding new links or upgrading existing ones, without overhauling the network. In short, SD WAN will grow with your business: it’s easy for us to incorporate additional offices, remote workers, or even cloud data centres into your network as your needs evolve.

SD-WAN is beneficial for a wide range of organisations, but especially for those that have multiple sites, distributed teams, or heavy reliance on cloud applications. Mid-sized businesses and enterprises with many branch offices or retail locations find SD-WAN very useful to simplify their network and cut costs. It’s also great for companies with a lot of remote or mobile workers, because SD WAN can be extended to home offices or integrate with secure remote access solutions to ensure everyone connects to company resources efficiently.

If your business is using bandwidth-intensive applications (like voice services, video conferencing, large file transfers, or cloud SaaS apps), SD-WAN helps keep those running smoothly even over commodity internet connections.

Ultimately, any organisation that wants to improve network reliability, have more control over traffic, and reduce the complexity of managing a WAN can benefit from a managed SD WAN service.