Engaging experiences from the network up
From delivering more personalized banking options to serving the needs of an increasing mobile workforce and clientele, the enterprise WAN has never been more important to the success of banking and financial services. These firms face increasing network complexity, rising demand for anywhere-anytime services and mounting cyber threats. To protect and futureproof their institutions while delivering the experiences members and customers increasingly expect, leaders must shift their network thinking.
Windstream Enterprise commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate driving factors and results for organizations transitioning from legacy networks to next-generation SD-WAN. The study confirms that leaders in banking and financial services are prioritizing security and reliability to enable customer-centric experiences in increasingly dispersed environments. And for that, they choose high-performing solutions backed by trusted technology partners.
Mounting pressure on the WAN
In financial services, the network is critical to digital transformation initiatives that fuel growth and deliver competitive advantages.
Members and customers expect engaging and increasingly personalized experiences. Employees and customers alike need ubiquitous access to applications and data that reside in the cloud. And the network? It must support it all while keeping highly sensitive information safe and secure.
Legacy networks holding back client experiences
Banks and financial services firms need to support secure, uninterrupted access to critical network and cloud-based resources for their members, customers and remote employees. Yesterday’s networks like MPLS don’t offer the flexibility, resiliency or capacity to support cloud applications that need to be accessible anytime, anywhere. Nor can they adequately protect the constantly shifting users, applications and work environments from potentially devastating security breaches.
Top 3 issues with current WANs, according to leaders in banking and financial services1
Securing remote sites with Internet connectivity
Time to deploy new WAN services, connectivity or hardware to new sites
Increasing security on the WAN, WAN traffic or remote sites/users
Securing the WAN remains a challenge
Like other sectors, banking and financial services organizations are increasing the number of employees working from home or operating as a hybrid workforce.1
As virtual perimeters continue to push beyond the boundaries of the physical enterprise network, leaders are challenged with standing up new remote sites while securing and controlling the edges.
SD-WAN drivers and roadblocks to change
Many financial institutions are migrating from legacy networks to high-performing solutions like SD-WAN. According to IT and business leaders in the industry, the leading motivator for the shift is the need to secure the network as an increased number of devices from non-employees (including customers or vendor partners) seek Internet access at remote sites.1
The sector’s number one barrier to SD-WAN implementation is also security-related: the challenges associated with designing and dispersing firewalls are proving to complicate the move to SD-WAN. A trusted managed technology partner can make the transition from legacy to leading-edge smooth and sustainable.
#1 driver
Improving security for remote locations1
#1 barrier to implementation
Designing, deploying and managing dispersed firewalls, IDS and IPS1
What financial services IT leaders look for in an SD-WAN partner
Banks and financial services leaders seek integrated network and security solutions delivered by a single, reliable provider at a cost-effective price point.1
Accelerate your WAN transformation with Windstream Enterprise
Windstream Enterprise offers network and security solutions that meet the needs of today’s banks and financial services firms.
Leading network and security solutions
Optimize your network for cloud-based applications and leverage unified, secure connectivity anywhere.
Award-winning digital experience
Customize and configure your services with centralized management and real-time visibility through our single pane of glass, WE Connect portal.
Unrivaled experience and service guarantees*
Benefit from an industry-leading focus on innovation and commitment to your success along with no-risk solution guarantees.
Financial services customer spotlight
For over a century, Navigant Credit Union has prioritized the financial wellbeing of the communities they serve. To meet continual growth goals while delivering the level of service their members have come to expect, they needed to evolve their legacy MPLS network.
Windstream Enterprise deployed SD-WAN with high-bandwidth Ethernet and cable broadband in an active/active configuration. This dual connection would support the company’s day-today operations and the automated failover would ensure that applications run at peak performance. What’s more, provisioning broadband cable allowed networks at new locations to be up and running in a matter of days, not months.
WE Connect, Windstream Enteprise’s single pane of glass customer portal, provides the team with deep visibility across the network by displaying performance analysis and trends in applications, network access and devices across all locations.
By investing in their future with a resilient and reliable network solution—backed by an expert technology team—Navigant Credit Union can once again offer engaging, customer-centric experiences.
‘‘ Windstream Enterprise has been a great partner and highly responsive to our needs. The transition from MPLS to SD-WAN went much smoother than expected.”
- Scott Hammond, VP of IT, Navigant Credit Union
Cloud-enabled connectivity, communications and security. Guaranteed.
Windstream Enterprise drives business transformation through the convergence of our proprietary software solutions and cloud-optimized network to unlock our financial clients’ revenue and profitability potential. Our managed services empower employee productivity, enhance security and compliance, and elevate the customer and member experience, while securing a firm’s critical data and brand reputation. Analysts certify Windstream Enterprise as a market leader for our product innovation, and clients rely on our financial stability, unrivaled service guarantees and best-in-class management portal. Institutions trust Windstream Enterprise as their single source for a high-performance network and award-winning suite of connectivity, collaboration and security solutions— delivered by a team of technology experts whose success is directly tied to fulfilling each institution’s mission.
To learn more about Windstream Enterprise network and security solutions, visit windstreamenterprise.com
1. “Shift Your Network Thinking to SD-WAN and Security.” A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper. Commissioned by Windstream Enterprise, March 2022.
* Required services include OfficeSuite UC® and SD-WAN Concierge™ for all Windstream Enterprise guarantees.
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