
Cloud migration, global collaboration, and hybrid workforces have permanently altered traffic patterns in enterprise networks. Yet many organizations still rely on 20-year-old wide-area architectures that were designed for branch-to-data-center traffic, not direct-to-cloud or work-from-anywhere realities. Those legacy WANs add latency, inflate connectivity bills, and complicate security operations. To stay competitive, CIOs and network architects are turning to Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN)-a software-centric approach that promises agility, visibility, and cost efficiency far beyond traditional models.