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The problem with traditional WAN
Traditional WANs rely on expensive, rigid MPLS circuits and backhaul all traffic through a data center. SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN) replaces that with an intelligent overlay that uses any transport — and picks the best path per application, in real time.
Why businesses are moving to SD-WAN
- Cost — augment or replace pricey MPLS with commodity broadband.
- Resilience — automatic sub-second failover if a link degrades or fails.
- Performance — voice and video get the lowest-latency path automatically.
- Agility — spin up a new branch with zero-touch provisioning in days, not weeks.
- Cloud-first — direct, local breakout to Microsoft 365 and SaaS without backhauling.
How it works
Edge appliances at each site connect to a central orchestrator. Policies define how traffic behaves — for example, "always send voice over the lowest-jitter link, and if it degrades, fail over instantly." The network is transport-agnostic: it doesn't care whether a link is fiber, cable, or cellular.
| Traditional MPLS | SD-WAN | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per Mbps | High | Low (broadband) |
| Failover | Manual / slow | Automatic, sub-second |
| Cloud access | Backhauled through DC | Direct local breakout |
| New site provisioning | Weeks | Zero-touch, days |
IDENETY approach: we design SD-WAN with application-aware policies, secure the edge, and can layer it onto Cisco or Meraki fabrics — often keeping one MPLS or LTE circuit for critical failover while broadband handles the bulk of traffic. See our Meraki lifecycle guide for how we manage the ongoing estate.
Contact our engineers to discuss SD-WAN for your multi-site environment.