In the verdant garden of IT, do you know the actual cost of growing your network? If your organization is flourishing, you’ve likely been tending your technology for quite some time. So, you’re aware an optimal growth environment requires a deliberate and carefully balanced mix of elements.

Considering all this effort, wouldn’t it be nice if your network could grow organically, with less labor on your part? It’s possible! But first, let’s dig down.

Have You Hit Bedrock on Your Total Cost of Ownership?

As a baseline, calculating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for your network is the most common way to evaluate every element’s direct and indirect costs, for the entire course of their lifespan. This will help you determine the overall return on investment (ROI). At any given moment, you should be able to identify which branches of your network are thriving versus those in need of a good trim.

While this process may sound simple, IT professionals,  know a healthy organizational ecosystem takes quite a bit of cultivation. For your network to stay connected and grow, its’ ecology requires:

• Sunshine in the form of regular upgrades to both hardware and software
• Weeding via ongoing maintenance
• Water rained down by technical support
• Pruning of your storage capacity and resources
• Soil fertilized by regular training

These components can quickly eat into your budget. Yet if all of them aren’t considered, your ROI will suffer, and your network will quickly shrivel. The result? A plague of locusts in the form of dis-connectivity, latency, packet loss, and jitter, just to name a few common network disrupters.

With all that said, some varieties of networks are harder than others. Here’s where SD-WAN comes in.

How Does SD-WAN Seed Your Network?

Because of its ability to be centrally administered and upgraded, network computing enhances both cost efficiency and performance. This is particularly true of a software-defined vast area network (SD-WAN) for these reasons:

• Integrating wired and wireless systems allows IT teams to reduce their operational complexity and simplify network management – less complication equals less cost.
• Application and routing policies are user-defined, meaning network traffic can be managed via centralized control, enhancing security and visibility.
• This level of control facilitates various types of network transport for flexible deployments.
• Its performance and agility enable users to connect to applications for a frustration-free experience easily

Ready for Some Premium Fertilizer?

Technology is a massive investment often filled with hidden costs that can cause your TCO to sprout out of control. Extreme Networks, however, brings the above benefits of SD-WAN into full bloom with a flexible subscription model offered in 12, 24, and 36-month terms. ExtremeCloud SD-WAN optimizes your TCO for ultimate growth by preserving capital, accelerating ROI, and removing obstacles associated with SD-WAN implementation.

This all-inclusive cloud-based solution incorporates appliances, an operation and orchestration platform, security, support, maintenance, and our unique Customer Success program. We tailor each package to your organizational needs, so the technology scales and grows with you.

If you recall the nursery rhyme of old, you may note: Unlike Gardener Mary, SD-WAN is less contrary. No longer shall your network vary.

IT Steve, by your leave, how does your network grow?

With SD-WAN, optimal TCO goes on – that’s how my network grows.

Every modern tool you need to nurture your network while creating space in your budget is available at Extreme Networks. Visit our TCO calculator[HS1] today and prepare to turn over a new leaf.