Unlocking the network matrix

API Holdings implemented SD-WAN to enhance its network visibility, streamline centralised management, and improve the application performance

- PRATIMA HARIGUNANI

SD-WAN is a cool thing. It sounds great to softwarise and smartify one's network. On paper, SD-WAN also promises a lot of agility, simplification, visibility, and twinkle-toed uptime. But the devil is always in the details. Or, to be precise, in the trenches. However, being a healthcare enterprise, that too with a digital-first posture, is not easy. The IT team has to make sure that the network availability is high. The resilience and uptime of the network cannot be ignored when you promise utmost agility and instant solutions to not just your end customers but other ecosystem partners.

That means, there is no room for congestion, delays, and blind spots.

TRIGGERS FOR THE SWITCH

The decision to implement SD-WAN at API Holdings transpired due to several challenges and gaps that the enterprise was facing with its traditional networking infrastructure.

"Before adopting SD-WAN, we were faced with challenges such as limited visibility and control over our network traffic, inefficient management of multiple branch locations, slow application performance, and high costs associated with maintaining dedicated MPLS connections," pointed out Chandresh Dedhia, Group CIO of the company. He further explained that these challenges hindered API Holdings' ability to scale, optimise application performance, and ensure consistent connectivity across the organisation.

THROUGH THE TUNNEL

Capturing the overall deployment experience of SD-WAN, Dedhia highlighted that the deployment experience of Silver Peak's SD-WAN solution was largely positive.