CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) announced today that its CenturyLink managed hybrid software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) service is now available. CenturyLink Managed Hybrid SD-WAN uses SD-WAN technology to increase and integrate traffic flow across broadband internet connections and private MPLS networks alike, the service provider asserts.
CenturyLink says that its SD-WAN offering will decrease network security risks and increase cost efficiency for business customers across their WANs. Regardless of whether applications are housed on-premises or in the cloud, the SD-WAN service offers enhanced performance between users and applications by using application-aware routing to automatically identify the best end-to-end path based on application requirements and network latency, CenturyLink adds.
"Businesses are looking to evolve their networks to better support their mission-critical business and cloud initiatives," said Troy Trenchard, CenturyLink vice president, product management. "Our Managed Hybrid SD-WAN solutions enable businesses to leverage their existing investments in MPLS while adding next-generation network capabilities. By using these new offerings, businesses can deliver high application performance and security across the WAN, especially for cloud-hosted apps."
CenturyLink provides centralized monitoring and management, as well as core infrastructure, design and implementation, security, transport and provider management for its customers. By minimizing integration, operations, and performance management complexities common in developing hybrid WAN environments, CenturyLink expects its managed hybrid SD-WAN service to enable customers to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.
Other U.S. Tier 1 carriers have selected a similar SDN/NFV path, and CenturyLink announced its intention to follow suit with its standalone managed SD-WAN offering in June 2016 (see "CenturyLink offers managed SD-WAN service").
CenturyLink provides its WAN packages for a set monthly service price. Built-in encryption, segmentation, and security policy control via a central portal offer traffic security at all business locations, including branches. CenturyLink's managed security services portfolio can be integrated as well.
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