NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) launched its software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) Service Portfolio with coverage spanning more than 190 countries. The debut marks a milestone for NTT Com, making it the first provider to deploy a worldwide SD-WAN services.
SD-WAN is a way to create and deploy a wide area network that uses software-defined networking (SDN) to establish the best way to direct traffic to a remote location. The purpose of NTT’s SD-WAN is to provide NTT Com with additional services that give enterprises an agile way to scale operations and bring new services to market quickly.
The foundations of WAN technology were originally laid in the 90s. With the rise of the cloud and the internet of things (IoT), however, the WAN market has been in need of an update. To meet the needs of the evolving virtual environment, NTT’s SD-WAN platform is distributed over 75 local cloud centers across the globe.
“Digital transformation is at the heart of every modern enterprise today, fundamentally changing companies’ business models,” said Shuichi Sasakura, senior vice president network services and board member of NTT Com, in a press release. “The global NTT SD-WAN Service Portfolio is an end-to-end solution that provides organizations with a highly flexible and agile network that is fully tailored to their specific requirements and enables them to better compete in today’s digital economy.”
NTT utilized software defined technology and platform by Virtela, which the company acquired in 2014. The businesses have been working together to spearhead the developed of NTT Com’s “SDx+M Solution Strategy.”
“We’ve leveraged NTT Com services as part of Dimension Data’s Managed Hybrid WAN solution for numerous customers with great success,” said Rob Lopez, Group Executive Networking, Dimension Data, an NTT Group Company, in a press release. “We’re excited by the enhancements that NTT Com has made to its SDWAN portfolio, and we look forward to working together to bolster the value we offer our joint customers.”
According to NTT Com, SD-WAN is based upon six architectural building blocks, including transport independence, application awareness, automatically secure endpoints, network-wide segmentation, centrally enforced business logic and centralized network services. Together, these principles offer a range of benefits and services for businesses. NTT SD-WAN real time streaming network analytics, for instance, sheds light on application performance, network security and customer experience. Moreover, the platform allows industries to keep tabs on their network and traffic overflow.
Furthermore, NTT Com’s SDN offers malware detection reporting to manage computer viruses using neither hardware nor software in the office. This service equips organizations with the tools necessary to target and respond to infected, in-house devices quickly and efficiently. Other benefits of a global SD-WAN include reliable access to secure internet gateways, cloud and SaaS platforms, improved reliability, increased bandwidth, lower costs and quicker deployment.
