3 Reasons Your IoT Needs SD-WAN

We live in an era of fast-paced digital transformation, thanks to the accelerating development of the Internet of Things (IoT). From agriculture and retail to transportation, healthcare and factory floors, IoT systems are delivering new business insights and more efficient ways of working.

The core technologies behind smart homes, smart cars, smart manufacturing and smart cities, and connected IoT devices have already had a huge impact on our lives, and with the advent of 5G networks, the number of devices will grow exponentially. According to analyst firm Gartner, there will be 5.8 billion enterprise and automotive IoT endpoints in use in 2020, up 21% from 2019.

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If you plan to deploy IoT-enabled assets, it is critical to have the right network architecture to manage the unique scalability and connectivity challenges that IoT brings. Cost-effective, secure, and easy-to-manage network connectivity is a must if you want to be successful. Unfortunately, wide area networks (WANs) are not designed to provide the bandwidth, security, or flexibility that most IoT initiatives require.

SD-WAN

The good news is that there are ready-made solutions for IoT devices. Software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs) are becoming a popular technology for deploying, securing and managing IoT, especially at the network edge in highly distributed enterprises.

SD-WANs are ideal for connecting remote locations to corporate networks, operating at the edge of existing networks, acting as a network overlay that allows remote sites to consolidate network functions and applications over low-cost broadband connections.

Because SD-WANs are software-based, they can reduce the number of network devices and connections required at each site. This means they can significantly reduce network complexity and costs. In addition, you can remotely configure and customize SD-WANs through software to quickly adapt to changing business needs and perform ongoing system updates.

Here are three key reasons why SD-WAN makes it easier to scale IoT initiatives in line with rapidly changing business needs.

Reason 1: Fast, Agile IoT Deployment

Simplified, affordable deployment of IoT devices is critical. One of the most impressive features SD-WAN offers is zero-touch provisioning, which automates and simplifies the management of device connectivity and features such as access control, networking, device security, and communications.

Additionally, you can leverage SD-WAN as a cloud-managed service, which further simplifies enterprise-wide SD-WAN deployments because it eliminates the need for IT teams to maintain and manage their own centralized SD-WAN data centers.

The end result is that initial installation and future upgrades are fast to perform because you can do it all over the web and at the lowest possible cost.

Reason 2: Centralized visibility and management

Implementing an IoT initiative brings with it considerable complexity and risk that must be managed effectively. With potentially thousands of IoT devices connected across multiple locations, it’s critical to understand exactly how your highly dynamic network is performing at any given moment.

Eliminating the need to use multiple interfaces to understand what is happening, SD-WAN simplifies ongoing network management by providing a “single pane of glass” console that provides real-time visibility into network performance and takes the guesswork out of problem resolution.

With centralized, cloud-based policy management, you can orchestrate assets to help ensure network resiliency, achieve real-time routing efficiencies to account for dynamic IoT traffic and keep everything running smoothly.

Reason 3: Minimizing IoT security risks

Allowing IoT devices to connect to the Internet opens the door to a variety of serious potential security vulnerabilities. In fact, IoT security has come under increased scrutiny following high-profile incidents in which IoT devices were used as entry points to infiltrate and attack sensitive core networks.

That’s why protecting systems and ensuring end-to-end security for IoT systems can be a significant learning curve for IT teams with limited resources and tight budgets who are tasked with extending enterprise-grade security to remote sites.

The solution is to implement an SD-WAN that provides unified threat management covering all security functions:

• Firewall
• Web and application filtering
• Security Information and Event Management
• SSL (decryption, inspection and re-encryption) and intrusion detection
• Antivirus, Antimalware and Antispyware

By segmenting the network with SD-WAN security zoning capabilities, you can help ensure IoT assets are isolated so attacks on them don’t compromise the entire enterprise.

With all of these modern SD-WAN capabilities, you can fundamentally change the way you use and protect your IoT investments to securely deploy and leverage new cloud-based applications and services.

Capitalize on IoT opportunities with confidence

From your local convenience store to your gas station, IoT technology is automating business operations and delivering real-time intelligence, helping you innovate quickly to meet your customers’ highest expectations.

With the right SD-WAN solution, you can take advantage of IoT opportunities without unnecessary complexity, risk or cost. By taking a strategic approach and deploying an SD-WAN that simplifies your network architecture, you will be better equipped to scale your IoT initiatives securely and quickly.