WANs (wide area networks) have become extremely important over the past couple of decades, enabling employees to work remotely and access data across multiple locations. WANs can be very beneficial for modern businesses, so if you’re considering taking out managed WAN services, it’s important to make yourself aware of the advantages and disadvantages of WAN.
We’ve created this blog to give you all the information you could ever need to know about wide area networks, exploring the various advantages of WAN, as well as some of the key challenges this form of technology can bring.
In the meantime, if you’d like to find out a little more about how our WAN solutions work, we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have – please make an enquiry with our dedicated team here.
What Is a Wide Area Network (WAN)?
Before implementing a WAN into your business, it’s important to understand exactly what is a WAN and how this form of internet technology works.
A wide area network (WAN) is a type of network that spans a large geographical area, allowing its users to share numerous resources (such as files, servers, and applications) across the globe. This factor means that WANs are a crucial form of internet technology for businesses with remote offices, international teams, or global operations.
One of the main defining factors of WANs is their ability to transmit data by using a variety of public and private communication channels, including dedicated business leased lines, fibre optic broadband cables, satellite links, and other types of internet connections.
The Advantages of WAN
There are several key advantages of WANs that can benefit modern businesses and organisations, particularly companies seeking to connect multiple locations. As you’ll see in the examples of WAN below, these networks enable organisations to expand their reach (both nationally and globally), improving their operational efficiency as part of the package.
Let’s explore some of the key advantages that make WANs an essential solution for modern businesses.
1. Global Connectivity
One of the key benefits of WANs is their ability to seamlessly connect multiple locations across the globe. Regardless of whether your business has offices spread across various cities or whether it operates in several countries, a WAN ensures seamless connectivity for everyone, due to its extensive global network reach.
This form of global connectivity gives your teams the ability to collaborate in real time, enabling them to share resources and access centralised data, regardless of their physical location at any given time.
This level of connectivity is invaluable for modern companies, enabling seamless and efficient operations across borders. Another major benefit of WANs is the fact that customer service can be improved massively, enabling employees and consumers to access vital information quickly, no matter where they’re based.
2. Resource Sharing is Made Easier
Using a WAN enables businesses to centralise their key IT infrastructure, sharing resources easily across multiple locations. These resources can include hardware equipment such as servers and databases, as well as software applications, all of which can be hosted in a colocation data centre or the cloud.
This form of centralised resource management can reduce duplication and improve productivity and consistency throughout your organisation, as all employees will have access to the latest data and tools required to do their jobs properly.
In addition to this, a wide area network also allows for easier data backups and disaster recovery protocols – in case of emergencies, critical information can be stored centrally and accessed remotely.
3. Increased Scalability
Another key advantage of WANs is that they are highly scalable, which is essential for businesses expecting to grow and expand in the future. As your company opens new locations or hires remote employees, your wide area network can be easily expanded to include new branches or facilities, without having to make significant changes to your existing network infrastructure.
This form of scalability makes your business much more flexible and is particularly beneficial for companies with existing long-term growth plans. This is because your WANs can be easily adapted to meet an increased demand, without requiring a complete overhaul of your network infrastructure.
4. Enhanced Cyber Security
Although cyber security concerns are sometimes raised about WANs, they’re often designed with robust security measures, ensuring that your data is always protected. By using the right security protocols (such as managed firewalls, encryption, and VPNs), your data can be protected from unauthorised access and a range of other cyber threats.
Private WANs are particularly useful in this regard, as they offer a much higher level of security than public networks that use the internet. With a private WAN, you can guarantee the use of dedicated connections (such as wireless leased lines), which are not shared with other users, ensuring your data remains secure and reliable at all times.
5. An Affordable Price Point
While the initial setup cost of a wide area network can be expensive to start with, over time it should become much more cost-effective. With a WAN, you can centralise your resources and reduce the need for separate internet systems in each business location, allowing your company to save money on its IT infrastructure, maintenance, and operational costs.
If you decide to transition to a cloud-based WAN or a software-defined WAN (known as SD-WAN), you may find your system is even more affordable. Managed SD-WAN providers use public internet connections and software to optimise the traffic routing procedure, making for an even more cost-effective service.
The Main Disadvantages of WAN
As you can see, WANs offer many tangible advantages for the savvy business owner, although there are also several drawbacks you should consider. From potentially high setup costs to network performance issues, your organisation must weigh up the main disadvantages of WAN to decide whether it’s the right choice for your business needs.
1. Increased Installation Costs
We’ve already seen that WANs can be cost-effective in the long run. Whilst this is still true, the initial setup costs and ongoing maintenance fees can be expensive. If the necessary infrastructure needs to be installed (including things like leased lines or fibre optic broadband cables), the cost can be significant, especially if your business uses several locations.
Additionally, you’ll also need to hire a team of skilled IT personnel to monitor performance, manage security, and troubleshoot any issues. These upfront costs can be a huge barrier to small businesses attempting to adopt a wide area network, although it can provide a good return on your investment as your network needs increase.
2. Navigating Network Complexity
WANs can be rather complex to manage and configure – particularly when you’re connecting multiple locations and integrating different technologies into your infrastructure. This means that your organisation must ensure that all parts of your network communicate efficiently with one another, which may require specialised expertise and dedicated resources.
This network complexity can be further increased if you opt for a hybrid network or want to incorporate cloud computing services into your network infrastructure. You’ll also likely need to have a team constantly monitoring and adjusting your network to ensure nothing hinders your performance, regardless of the number of devices and platforms being used at once.
3. Latency and Performance Issues
Another factor that can negatively affect network performance in WANs is congestion and high latency. If you have several devices and users accessing your network at the same time, this can lead to your bandwidth becoming strained, which in turn leads to slower speeds and reduced efficiency.
These performance issues can be particularly problematic for businesses that rely heavily on WANs to transfer large amounts of data or run cloud-based applications. However, you can mitigate these issues by investing in innovative solutions like MPLS or SD-WAN – the latter can prioritise traffic and improve performance, even during high-demand periods.
4. Vulnerability to Cyber Threats
Although they can be easily secured using encryption tools, firewalls, and VPNs, WANs remain vulnerable to cyberattacks – particularly if you’ve only implemented weak security measures. In these situations, hackers can target different points within the network, allowing them to breach your cyber security and gain access to sensitive data.
To mitigate these risks, you need to invest in advanced protection tools, employee training and regular security audits. We also offer our own managed cyber security packages, if you’d like our help with managing malicious activity. Please see our handy guide to find out more about the benefits of managed IT services.
5. Dependence on External Service Providers
When setting up a WAN, most businesses rely on external service providers for their WAN infrastructure. Whilst there are many good vendors out there like M247, relying on third-party providers can be a drawback if your provider experiences technical issues or outages, as these issues may also affect your performance.
This dependence on external providers can make businesses particularly vulnerable to external factors outside of their control, so it’s important you choose a highly rated provider like M247 to set up your new wide area network.
Weighing Up the Benefits and Drawbacks of WAN
As we’ve seen, there are many advantages of WANs, as these networks can offer tremendous benefits for organisations that need to connect multiple locations and streamline their business operations. WANs provide global connectivity, scalability and the ability to resource share, making them critical in today’s digital world.
However, businesses must also consider the disadvantages of WANs, including high setup costs, their relative complexity, and the potential performance issues that can come with managing these networks. By carefully assessing your business needs, you can ensure that you find the right solution for your needs, whether that’s through MPLS IPVPN or a managed SD-WAN service. We have a variety of managed IT services available, able to tailor your package to your every need.
At M247, we offer a wide range of managed WAN solutions, able to create the perfect package for your business needs. If you’d like to find out more about how it all works, please get in touch with our expert team today.
