Ensuring A Consistent User Experience Across Challenging Regions

In today’s digital landscape, global enterprises continue to embrace an expanding and dispersed user base with a hybrid or remote work model, leading to an increased dependency on digital systems. This results in a high sensitivity to latency, new connectivity requirements, and heightened end-user experience expectations – whether in the office or at a busy cafe. In America alone, 36.2 million employees will be working remotely by 2025, underscoring how crucial a consistent user experience is as a requirement that directly influences productivity, operational effectiveness, and overall user satisfaction.

Even as this trend accelerates, numerous enterprise applications still have significant barriers to overcome, such as being acutely vulnerable to latency, jitter, and packet loss. These issues become incredibly challenging when the enterprise operates on a global scale, with regional nuances and significant distances between the users and the applications. For example, in regions with poor quality or limited local internet connectivity, the internet may not deliver the required quality outcomes. This drives enterprises to consider alternatives for the Internet and traditional private networks.

The arrival of a Software-Defined Cloud Networking backbone to replace the MPLS core

Global end-user spending on public cloud services is set to skyrocket to an estimated total of $678.8 billion in 2024, or by roughly 20 percent. Additionally, Gartner indicated that close to all (95 percent) new digital workloads will be employed on cloud-native platforms. To meet incoming cloud demands and requirements, a well-structured cloud strategy is required and becomes increasingly critical to ensure a stable user experience, regardless of geographical location or internet connectivity.

When crafting and refining your cloud strategy, enterprises must focus on establishing a strong digital foundation, where you can effectively replace MPLS with a software-defined backbone. With a software-defined approach, enterprises can enjoy flexible capacity tailored to business needs and when integrated with cloud infrastructure enterprises can unlock diverse internet peering, further improving network performance.

Additionally, removing the MPLS core will eliminate the challenges of inflexible and costly telco procurement models characterized by rigid long-term contracts and fixed bandwidth commitments.

Questions to ask:

  1. What are the scalability blockers associated with a closed MPLS routed network as more traffic needs to leave the network perimeter?
  2. How does the traditional telco procurement model, which often involves long-term contracts and commitments to specific bandwidth levels, affect the cost for enterprises?
  3. How can a software-defined approach to networking help enterprises flex their capacity according to business needs?
  4. In what ways can software-defined backbones, which are closely integrated with cloud provider infrastructure, improve performance, and maximize agility and scalability?
  5. How does the shift towards software-defined networking infrastructure enable dynamic routing, augmented traffic management, and direct access to primary Cloud Service Provider (CSP) backbones?

Bridging the cloud divide with CSP backbones aided by an SD-WAN layer

There are several benefits of connecting directly to major CSP backbones. Enterprises will gain a significant boost in speed, reliability, and safety enabled by a dedicated pathway that avoids the unpredictable public internet. This approach not only streamlines network management but also allows for a more economical and scalable cloud utilization, providing a key edge in navigating the digital ecosystem.

Today, enterprises have two choices when it comes to direct access to major CSP backbones. One option consists of dedicated private connectivity between MPLS core networks and cloud providers, like ExpressRoute or DirectConnect, which can be prohibitively expensive and require lengthy contracts.

A more recent option is a software-defined alternative that can offer direct connectivity into the cloud infrastructure where workloads are migrating to and where the SD-WAN edge functionality grants close integration and intelligent edge, selecting the best-performing path to meet the requirements of each application.

Four key reference points to consider:

  1. The current telco procurement models are the status quo, but other dynamic alternatives, such as a software-defined approach, exist, offering an agile and economical alternative.
  2. Software-defined backbones can integrate directly with cloud provider infrastructure, unlocking various internet peering options and potential improvements.
  3. Enterprises that entertain the integration of software-defined infrastructure can expect dynamic routing, streamlined traffic management, and direct entrance to major CSP backbones. The benefits could be almost immediate.
  4. With software-defined alternatives, enterprises will enable intelligent path selection at the edge to meet each application’s requirements.

Key considerations

As we progress further into 2024, ensuring enterprises have a robust cloud strategy has never been more critical. A well-designed and dynamic cloud strategy supports digital business initiatives and improves the value of cloud investments. By 2025, Gartner projects that over 85 percent of businesses will adopt a cloud-first principle, underlining the weight of importance cloud computing will have in shaping the future of digital business operations.

For countries with limited internet connectivity, securing low-latency access to the cloud can take significant time and effort. Enterprises are considering alternatives to traditional private networks and the Internet due to latency sensitivity and global user distribution. A software-defined approach to replace MPLS core networks offers flexibility in capacity and cost-effectiveness. It also integrates closely with cloud provider infrastructure, improving performance and scalability. Direct access to major Cloud Service Provider (CSP) backbones via software-defined solutions also presents a cost-effective alternative to dedicated private connections.

Additionally, when an enterprise teams up with a co-managed service, they can expect support and the necessary governance required, as well as solutions that work in hard-to-reach locations, which all aligns with business needs. However, appropriate experience in this area matters greatly. Partners like Coevolve can not only provide a reliable cloud adoption blueprint based on their expertise but also manage potential blockers, such as reimagining traditional network architectures that fall short of cloud demands and require new strategies. The co-managed operating model, combined with Smart Services integration, boosts network management for enterprise requirements and bridges any knowledge gaps.  Keep your enterprise from falling behind in the digital landscape and instead empower your business with the tools to evolve your cloud connectivity. Act now and secure your enterprise’s digital future with Coevolve’s expert cloud services.

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