Why enterprises are struggling with WAN management

Companies are struggling to manage and secure their WANs, especially at branch locations, according to the findings of a new report.

The study, conducted by Dimensional Research for Versa Networks, finds almost all participants state that maintaining security policies, network devices and complexity due to cloud and mobile applications are the most difficult aspects of managing the WAN.

97 percent say they face multiple challenges to managing their WAN and the three most common ones involve branch offices. Managing network and security devices at branch locations was cited by 52 percent, mitigating information security risks at branch locations (50 percent), and deploying new network and security solutions at branch locations (42 percent).

Growing complexity is the top challenge for managing branch networks and security according to the report. While 80 percent of respondents prefer an integrated SD-WAN and security solution, more than a third of companies say they don't have proper security measures at branch locations.

These issues are exacerbated by the number of physical network and security devices respondents have to manage. In a typical branch location 44 percent of respondents manage more than ten devices, while 66 percent have to manage more than six devices. Further complicating things, 88 percent of networking professionals confirmed that in a given remote branch they are working with devices from multiple vendors.

"This report makes it clear that branch offices in particular are causing the biggest headaches when it comes to managing and securing WANs," says Kelly Ahuja, CEO of Versa Networks. "Networking teams are simply faced with too many physical devices from too many vendors across too many locations. However, organizations can solve these problems by embracing a software-defined architecture. Rather than requiring IT pros to architect in new boxes as the network evolves, SD-WAN and SD-Security allows them to consolidate and centrally control their branch infrastructure, resulting in a simpler and more secure environment".

The full report is available from the Versa Networks site.

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