EDITOR ’ S COMMENT
WILL THE GROWING EMERGENCE OF SD-WAN INCREASE OPPORTUNITY IN THE CHANNEL ?
SIMON PAMPLIN , CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST WAN EDGE EMEA , ARUBA SILVER PEAK
Over the past year the pandemic has been a catalyst for accelerated Digital Transformation and companies are now working hard to adapt and maintain the pace they set themselves . Alongside a myriad of other challenges , the new ‘ work from anywhere ’ mandate has been a prevailing shift that businesses have had to embrace . Remote working is the new norm and the net has widened in terms of business locations . Simon Pamplin , Chief Technologist WAN Edge EMEA at Aruba Silver Peak , a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company , explains how the growing emergence of SD-WAN will increase opportunity in the channel .
Over the past year the pandemic has been a catalyst for accelerated Digital Transformation and companies are now working hard to adapt and maintain the pace they set themselves . Alongside a myriad of other challenges , the new ‘ work from anywhere ’ mandate has been a prevailing shift that businesses have had to embrace . Remote working is the new norm and the net has widened in terms of business locations ; instead of being fixed , viable ‘ office ’ settings could now be coffee shops , homes , shared spaces and pop-up venues . This has altered the concept of a branch office , while the apps used are the same , the way they are accessed and secured is different , which is putting increased pressure on organisations to transform their WAN and security architectures .
Many organisations have tried to manage this shift by stretching their legacy router and firewall centric infrastructures that simply can ’ t sustain the pace and aren ’ t flexible enough for modern applications that are primarily hosted in the cloud . As a result , there is a growing demand for SD-WAN , which relies on a cloud-first architecture . But how can channel partners maximise SD-WAN as a growth opportunity ? And what should they look out for when it comes to identifying potential customers ?
A new conversation
One of the key benefits of SD-WAN is that it aligns the network to the desired outcomes of the business . The network is built around the needs of the business and the software creates an agile virtual network enabling acceleration and innovation that can ’ t be matched by traditional networks . With SD-WAN automation and intelligence , the network becomes self-driving , simplifying processes and driving efficiencies that ensure business leaders can get on with running their companies instead of worrying about the accessibility and security of their business applications .
This shift in approach presents a huge opportunity for channel partners – particularly those who have sold traditional networking . Instead of talking to IT departments about new network ‘ products ’, resellers can now speak to business leaders about WAN and security transformation that will enable them to deliver on broader company goals and objectives , and gain time to market advantages . This means partners can target a new audience with a fundamentally new
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