Cisco announced that it is unifying its security and software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) technologies to help organizations embrace the cloud faster with choice and confidence. As the way people work has changed, now employees connect from coffee shops and airport lounges, instead of just the office, that is pushing organizations to host their applications in multiple clouds – public, private and SaaS. Organizations must rely on the Internet to connect users to business-critical applications. This has resulted in a new Cloud Edge – the intersection of networking and security.
Until now, SD-WAN solutions have forced IT to choose between application experience or security. By evolving its SD-WAN portfolio, Cisco is addressing the new realities of the Cloud Edge. Cisco SD-WAN can help IT deliver better application experiences and make users more productive with unmatched simplicity and scale. And now, best-of-breed security can be easily enabled anywhere it is needed, from the branch to the cloud.
“The emergence of the new Cloud Edge is disrupting our customers’ network and security architectures. Today, every WAN device must become software defined and secure,” said Scott Harrell, senior vice president and general manager, Enterprise Networking at Cisco. “Cisco’s SD-WAN makes it easy for customers to get the very best of networking and security. We are building a bridge to a new business world that speeds our customers’ ability to unlock the power of the cloud — faster with less risk.”
Cisco SD-WAN is built to address today’s most pressing issues, yet flexible enough to tackle the challenges of tomorrow by fusing security with SD-WAN and simplifying cloud security deployments. Cisco has also partnered with Microsoft to enhance the Office 365 application experience for users. With open APIs, Cisco SD-WAN provides service providers and partners the opportunity to create unique new services.
Boosting world’s broadest SD-WAN portfolio powered by Viptela and Meraki, Cisco is offering even more options for customers with two new Integrated Services Routers (ISR) designed for small and large branch offices. The company is also helping customers accelerate SD-WAN deployments and decrease risk via a new SD-WAN Quick Start Service. For a fixed-price, customers get access to remote implementation and knowledge transfer capabilities to streamline projects. Cisco has made it easier to consume and manage the new solution. Both the network and security can be purchased through a single license model and managed through a single interface.
