Vodafone Launches Transformative Network Infrastructure Solution SD-WAN For Irish Businesses

• With an additional managed-service offer, SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) is an intelligent software-based enterprise network that dynamically manages network traffic to meet business needs
• The cost effective, secure, on-demand network solution is projected to become the fastest growing product among business customers in 2020

Vodafone Ireland, has today announced the launch of its software based enterprise network, SD-WAN, a virtual solution that sits over your existing or new network and gives you immediate visibility and control of network traffic. The solution will enable businesses to manage all applications, devices and bandwidth usage through a single self-service portal.

In addition, Vodafone customers will have the option to avail of a managed service model for SD-WAN adoption. This service will provide support through a team of experts and certified engineers that will monitor and manage the customer network on their behalf - allowing IT teams more time to focus on delivering value add activities.

According to Vodafone, SD-WAN technology will transform businesses, bringing more flexibility and mobility to business operations, and is set to become the fastest growing business product of 2020.

The key lies in its ability to combine a centrally controlled and managed Wi-Fi solution, a secure firewall and state of the art analytics and application controls. These tools help IT administrators to streamline and improve the end-user experience through the single self-serve portal, and crucially to significantly reduce the time it takes to isolate network or application problems that lie beyond the local area network.

The service intelligently optimises network performance over the best available mechanism in the network to meet demand, whether through multiprotocol label (MPLS), internet, mobile or a combination of all three. Connectivity can move from broadband to 4G freely, allowing seamless operations for all applications. This increases application performance, resulting in enhanced user experience, increased business productivity and reduced costs for IT.

As businesses host increased applications on the cloud, greater connectivity speeds along with security are critical to the success of their digital transformation and performance. Crucially, security is embedded across all points of Vodafone’s SD-WAN service, protecting businesses from unwanted threats, with in-built encryption and firewall that secures data, network and users.

Vodafone Ireland recently signed a contract to provide SD-WAN to Ryanair, which alongside the use of Vodafone’s global network, enables a 10-day turnaround in setting up a new airport site. The service gives Ryanair the agility and flexibility to respond quickly to customer demand when launching new route offerings, instantly managing the added pressure to their network.

Regina Moran, Business Director, Vodafone Ireland says: "Vodafone's SD-WAN network is the future for Irish business, giving them greater control over their network usage with enhanced connectivity and security. As businesses follow a digital transformation agenda, use more cloud-based services and support more remote and flexible working, there will be further demands on their network and connectivity requirements. Imagine a tool that gives you total visibility of what’s happening on your network and also allows you to solve every day networking issues."

“Ideal for medium to large businesses, migration to SD-WAN is managed by Vodafone’s end to end experts so it can be installed and up and running quickly, without the need for multiple vendors. The overall goal is to simplify the IT administrator’s workload, to free them up to focus on adding value to the system”.