In our last blog on the retail industry, we explored why many networks in the sector are creaking under the strain of larger data flows, the increase in AI and IoT deployments, and the need to safeguard a growing number of attack surfaces. So what do retail networks need to look like not only to cope with today’s pressures but to get ready for a future that’s constantly in flux?
Most large retailers have already adopted SD-WAN to modernize, centralize, and standardize their network estates for a cloud-based and SaaS-centric world.
The benefits of SD-WAN are already clear. Even in the earlier days of SD-WAN, a study by IDC found that deployments offered:
- 25 times more bandwidth
- 65% lower cost of connectivity for equivalent bandwidth
- 38% lower five-year cost of operations
- 59% faster onboarding of new services
- 94% less unplanned downtime
- Almost two times (45%) reduced application latency
Is SD-WAN Still Relevant in the Retail Sector?
SD-WAN is a mature and widely used technology, and although it continues to evolve with retail market demands, it’s not going away. That’s because it’s highly adaptable, making it an ideal platform for the deployment of newer technologies.
SD-WAN provides the comprehensive real-time network visibility, automation, and centralized management that are needed to meet the demanding and unpredictable data requirements of technologies like AI and multi-cloud and to incorporate new connectivity types into the mix without increasing complexity.
Take 5G, for example. It offers a wide range of potential use cases for retailers, such as:
• Immediate, reliable provisioning for temporary sites and events
• Better coverage and stability for POS systems compared to Wi-Fi
• In-store AR and VR experiences
• Connectivity for smart shelves, IoT devices, and supply chain tracking
• High-capacity backup and out-of-band management
5G SD-WAN is in its infancy, but wrapping 5G – with its valuable network slicing capabilities – into SD-WAN has the potential to maximize the performance benefits of both technologies and to create even finer performance granularity to better meet different application needs.
As SD-WAN evolves and incorporates newer technologies, retailers will get closer to the holy grail of free-flowing data and seamless connectivity between apps, resources, and people.
And if POS, e-commerce, CRM, ERP, and logistics systems can seamlessly share information with each other and with users, retailers can more effectively predict demand, manage stock levels, track inventory, understand and forecast customer behavior across different platforms, personalize customer recommendations, and provide joined-up customer service.
What Does SD-WAN Mean for Retail Security?
SD-WAN plays a vital role in keeping retail networks secure, as it’s the foundation for Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) deployments.
SASE combines software-defined networking with cloud-based security functions, including cloud access security brokers (CASBs), firewall as a service (FWaaS), secure web gateways (SWGs), and zero-trust network access (ZTNA).
Because it consolidates networking and security into a centralized platform, SASE makes these two functions significantly easier to manage compared to legacy approaches.
It allows retailers to easily create secure connections between people and resources, wherever they’re located. All endpoints – like POS and IoT devices – are secured with robust protection and consistent, centrally defined policies and so are connections to stores, warehouses, and apps and workloads in the cloud. SASE also allows automated security updates and patch rollouts, closing vulnerabilities more quickly.
Zero-trust provides stronger security against evolving cyber threats, as it requires constant and ongoing verification and authentication for every user and device before allowing access inside the network. This also helps to prevent attacks from within the network and severely limits what an attacker can do if they gain access.
That means security is built into the network, so flexibility and security no longer need to be contradictory business goals. Compared to the traditional “castle and moat” method, which was designed to secure the network perimeter, this is a much more effective approach to securing disparate infrastructures without clear boundaries.
How Can Retailers Build Intelligence Into Their Networks?
The application of AI to intelligently manage and simplify complex network operations is showing great promise.
One of the challenges here is that the number of different tools, systems, and services that IT teams have to manage is staggering, and they often don’t integrate well.
Embedding AI-powered automation into the different layers of the network brings the disparate elements of the network and security estate together as a unified whole. That provides retailers with:
- Complete visibility across all network and security environments
- Prioritized, real-time network and security insights and alerts
- Faster resolution of issues
- More proactive network and security management
- The ability to optimize traffic paths for even better application performance
DIY or Managed Services for SD-WAN and SASE?
SD-WAN and SASE solutions aren’t off-the-shelf offerings and need to be designed, built, and managed for the very specific requirements of each retail organization. There are challenges to be overcome too, including lack of skills, integration, best practice adoption, and ongoing staff training.
That’s why many industry experts believe that SD-WAN and SASE solutions will increasingly be consumed as managed services: More than half of organizations turn to managed service providers (MSPs) for help with SASE due to a lack of expertise, 63% had or planned to use MSPs for SASE deployment, and 75% will use an MSP for some or all of their ongoing SASE management.
A managed approach relieves retailers of the burden of maintaining in-house networking, security, and AI skills and of keeping up to date with important new developments in these areas. MSPs also provide the expertise to make sure retailers continue seeing the full potential of these deployments as they evolve in response to changes in the industry and to technological developments.
For global retailers struggling to manage different regional vendors, dashboards, tools, and compliance requirements, managed services can provide consistency across all operations and territories.
MSPs also offer greater network resilience, dramatically reducing the possibility of damaging outages. For example, IoT devices reliant on cellular connectivity could failover to another cellular provider, or even to satellite, if one carrier goes down. Retail locations using fiber, on the other hand, could failover to Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) in the event of a fiber outage.
Retailers Must Put the Network at the Heart of Future Planning
Retailers are facing a precarious balancing act. They need to increase margins, cut costs, and provide standout customer experiences. An adaptable, secure network will help them navigate the ongoing evolution of technology and of customer expectations. Find out how a global manufacturer and retailer was held back by undetected critical link failures, low flexibility, and too many vendors – and what happened when it moved to a fully managed SASE solution with the control, visibility, and scale needed to succeed in a time of relentless transformation within the industry.