Is the corporate IT network outdated?
It would seem so, at least the ubiquitous branch office network is.
Consider the below facts:
- Most corporate branches work on an MPLS or leased line bandwidth of 2 – 10 Mbps
- More than 70% of them use unlicensed band radio as the list mile
- On the other hand, 4G LTE coverage is between 82% to 98% of the country operator wise (source: Speedtest.in)
- Average bandwidth experience on 4G ranges from 7-10 Mbps (download) and 2.6-4.5 Mbps (upload) (source: Opensignal)
- At least 20% of corporate applications are already on the cloud and this is expected to go to 80% by 2025 (sources: IBM and WSJ)
- Average time to deploy an MPLS connection is 4-6 weeks, time to deploy an LTE connection is …well a few days
What’s going here? Why are our IT infrastructure managers continuing their bets on legacy MPLS or ‘committed’ bandwidth while ignoring the elephant in the room?
Inconsistent quality of 4G and data security are the most common worries.
However, smarter IT is innovating and deploying solutions that ride the agility of 4G LTE for enterprise use while mitigating its weaknesses.
Our partner, Viva communications increased site level uptime to 97% by deploying LTE from just 2 different operators.
By adding a local broadband connection, we experienced uptimes of 99.99% for a bandwidth of 10 Mbps! All this, at a cost that is 30% lower than ‘committed bandwidth’ MPLS.
But, what about security? Using an SD WAN device with its router, firewall and other NFV capabilities solves this problem very well. Besides, additional security features such as private APN white-listing, public IP address and local internet breakout further enhance security & performance.
So, isn’t it time to re-think branch networks? What do you think about it?
If you want to explore how you can transform your branch connectivity while reducing costs, please leave us your contacts here.