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With the accelerated use of private and hybrid cloud ap-
plications and computing, network and application service
providers alike are seeing a substantial shift in how busi-
nesses want to connect to the cloud – particularly mid-tier
and large enterprises. For the past 15 years, companies
have used multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) architec-
ture to interconnect branch offices to each other because it
offers any-to-any connectivity for thousands of sites com-
bined with quality of service (QoS) for packet prioritization.
While MPLS remains a popular wide area networks (WAN)
connectivity option, it is no longer the total solution. The
connectivity trend is moving to hybrid WAN.
Today, there is no single WAN technology that effective-
ly meets every single requirement to connect all enterprise
applications and all locations. Indeed, enterprises have
found that one access technology and one service pro-
vider can no longer meet their needs, since no one service
provider is everywhere and no one technology is the right
solution for all applications and locations.
Hybrid is the New Normal
The new enterprise WAN encompasses multiple network-
access technologies that are connecting locations to support
the variation of security, bandwidths and performance levels
needed to meet today’s evolving cloud application require-
ments. Each business location needs the right connectivity for
the specific applications used within it; that may mean public
Internet, MPLS, EVPL, wavelengths or even wireless. In an
age where ensuring the best customer experience is key,
everything starts with the customer location and their required
destinations. It is up to service providers to advise custom-
ers on the best connectivity solutions and connect them to
these solutions simply, efficiently and cost-effectively.
At the same time, hybrid networks bring with their own
set of new challenges. Identifying, contracting and man-
aging services across multiple suppliers and product of-
ferings is complex, fragmented and inefficient. A lack of
expertise in managing multiple suppliers, combined with
WAN Connectivity Simplified
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THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S
PLAYBOOK
By
Mary
Stanhope