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December 14, 2023

SD-WAN and Moving Vehicles for Logistics and Transportation Industries

There is no business without logistics, and coming off the digital age, modern companies have moved to the cloud for real-time transfer of data and staying connected with their staff, clients, and consumers instantly. The growing demand for real-time logistics has led to the emergence of SD-WAN. It helps in handling huge volumes of traffic and integrates the cloud with third parties for improved productivity and security. In this blog, we shall unveil the importance of SD-WAN in the logistics and transportation industries.Gone are the days when expensive hardware and private network connections were the only sources to connect with remote offices and moving vehicles. SD-WAN uses software to move traffic across the best paths using broadband and LTE. With hybrid working models and the adoption of cloud-based critical applications, SD-WAN can improve performance at lower operational costs. SD-WAN improves multisite deployments, enabling network administrators to use bandwidth efficiently.

How can SD-WAN benefit the logistics and transportation industries?
WAN is used extensively to connect with remote locations for quick delivery of goods. In this context, traditional WAN can be expensive and complicated to manage, so the logistics world has moved to the cloud. It is here that SD-WAN comes in handy, promising a host of benefits to the logistics and transportation industry. In this effort, logistics companies can streamline operations and improve performance without straining their pockets. The advantages are as follows:

  • Multiple connectivity: SD-WAN uses multiple connections to route traffic through the best available path. Transport management systems, warehouse distribution, and GPS devices can now receive uninterrupted internet connectivity to operate efficiently, thereby improving the company’s overall performance.
  • Budget-friendly: SD-WAN opts for cheaper connection alternatives like Broadband and LTE, compared to expensive MPLS with dedicated circuits.
  • Centralised management: Managing your network infrastructure can never be easy again. Now, you can configure, monitor performance, troubleshoot, and manage policies from a single console. With SD-WAN, there will be no need to manage individual appliances. Multiple devices can be managed at the click of a button.
  • Encryption for security: Moving data is safe with SD-WAN. You can enjoy secure connectivity with encryption, providing safe traffic movement and access to cloud applications. The data in transit is secure while it travels between the headquarters and the data centre.
  • Cloud integration: Integrate the cloud with your WAN services like SaaS applications and PaaS offerings. Moreover, SD-WAN provides its Point of Presence (PoP). Logistics companies can now experience faster data transfer to the cloud than traditional services.
  • Automation: SD-WAN for logistics companies helps streamline network operations, giving minimal room for error.

Factors impacting the cost of SD-WAN deployment for logistics companies
The factors that can affect the SD-WAN deployment cost are as follows:

  1. Size of the network: The pricing depends on the area of the locations to be covered. Adding more data centres to the network could increase the cost. The advantage of SD-WAN for logistics companies is the ease of adding new locations.
  2. Features: Pricing varies from vendor to vendor. The pricing differs depending on the technology and packages chosen. SD-WAN comes with next-gen firewalls, Application Quality of Experience (AppQoE), dedicated bandwidth for pre-determined apps, SLA automation to control latency and jitters, and more.
  3. Disaster recovery: SD-WAN has resilience features like Broadband, LTE, fibre technologies, and ISPs for disaster recovery. The more features, the higher the price, though compared to MPLS, the rates are affordable. To give your business complete resilience, setting up backup endpoints like firewalls and routers is important.
  4. Multiple providers: Today, several providers offer various services. Organisations can explore a range of connectivity solutions to expand the reach of their network. Managing multiple connections in real-time is more accessible now with SD-WAN GUI.

How do logistics and transportation companies implement SD-WAN?
The initial step is to assess the present network infrastructure and identify the scope for improvement. The logistics companies should determine the specific networking needs, agility, cost, resilience, support, etc. Then comes the design step involving selecting hardware and software, network topology, and security measures. Following the design is deployment. Installation and configuration of hardware and software to meet the organisation’s specific requirements is crucial. Testing and maintenance are the final steps to ensure operational efficiency.

SMOAD offers SD-WAN for road warriors, enabling mobile users and remote partners to access the centralised business application. SMOAD Soft Edge comes with loads of features. Call our experts to choose the right package for your logistics and transportation company.

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