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Keeping Up With the Joneses: What We Learned from WAN Managers in 2018

Written by Jayne Miller | Dec 15, 2018 7:07:00 PM

One of the many things we love about the WAN Summit series is our ability to hear from real WAN managers around the world about the challenges they face and the new technology that is strengthening their networks.

We loved writing about lessons learned from these experts in 2018.

Below are several of the most notable summit stories from the year. Click through to revisit these conversations with the WAN professionals helping us keep up with the latest and greatest network developments.

All About Uptime Requirements

 

There were several drivers behind BorgWarner’s decision to adopt SD-WAN, but perhaps the most important was that they “needed multiple avenues to keep manufacturing sites up and running,” according to Mark Williams, senior information technology manager for the company.

Williams shared insight into this decision making process in a presentation at this year's WAN Summit New York.

BYOD is Shifting the Security Perimeter 

Of all of the areas covered by the WAN Summit, cyber security has got to be one of the hottest topics.

This popular and important subject is being led by a niche core of security experts who are showing us the way. 

Lucky for those who were at our September event in Singapore, we had insight from Velocloud’s Brett Waddington, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP’s Justin Lee, and Centurylink’s Ricky Chau. Led by our own Paul Brodsky, the panel dissected how new technology and workplace culture are changing WAN security requirements.

Full Mesh Capabilities Matter 

Consumer products company Henkel converted a portion of its global network, primarily in Asia, to SD-WAN.

What sold them on the switch? SD-WAN’s ability to support full mesh capability and application-based routing were big selling points.

Henkel Network Consultant Markus Feldbruegge joined Thomas Lentz, solution manager for Henkel’s SD-WAN provider Singtel, to dig into the SD-WAN selection and implementation process at our 2018 WAN Summit Frankfurt.

EMEA Carriers Are Embracing SD-WAN

Europe was initially slower than North America to adopt SD-WAN. But in recent years the technology has caught on and spread to the broader Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region. 

This was among the many observations made by Nuage Networks' Johan Witters during his session on SD-WAN use cases in EMEA at WAN Summit Dubai earlier this spring. 

It's Worth Learning from Peers and SD-WAN Specialists

In 2015, SD-WAN was not the phenomenon that it is today. But David Stork, IT infrastructure manager for multi-national manufacturer Detmold Group, was motivated to explore the then-emerging technology way back when.

In their presentation, Stork and Tim Sullivan, CEO of global SD-WAN provider Coevolve, discussed Detmold’s decision to move to SD-WAN. The duo also covered Detmold’s 32-site SD-WAN deployment undertaken between December 2015 and March 2016 and the benefits that the network continues to provide.