SD-WAN
Solutions
Managed SD-WAN for multi-site organisations: application-aware performance, resilient multi-circuit connectivity and standardised design across the estate, with the visibility to prove it’s working. The wide-area network and the software that runs it, delivered as one capability.
What is Business Everywhere: SD-WAN?
Business Everywhere: SD-WAN is the wide-area network layer of the Cloud Gateway platform. It connects the places your organisation operates, head office, branches, sites, data centres, to each other, to the cloud and to the networks they depend on, and uses software-defined routing to steer traffic across multiple circuits based on application need and real-time path quality.
A traditional WAN gives each site one circuit and a fixed route. SD-WAN gives each site several circuits, broadband, fibre, 4G, 5G, and intelligently chooses the best path for each application moment to moment, with automatic failover when a link degrades. It’s the difference between a network you hope holds up and one that adapts as conditions change, and proves it did.
Cloud Gateway designs the network, sources and configures the circuits underneath it, deploys the edge at each site, and runs it from a UK NOC. The underlying WAN transport and the SD-WAN intelligence that governs it are delivered together, as one capability, rather than a circuit from one supplier and an overlay from another.
For a fuller explanation of the technology, you can find our SD-WAN and WAN guides in the Knowledge Centre. This page covers what Cloud Gateway delivers.
Benefits of Business Everywhere: SD-WAN
Real-time traffic gets priority; bulk traffic doesn’t compete with what matters. The network knows what Teams, Zoom and Microsoft 365 need, steers accordingly, and proves performance through telemetry rather than asserting it.
Multiple circuits per site (broadband, fibre, 4G, 5G) with intelligent failover. Single points of failure are designed out rather than tolerated, and traffic moves to a healthy path before users notice.
SD-WAN replaces the rigid single-path private circuit with a multi-path, application-aware network that still meets the performance and security requirements MPLS was originally chosen for, run alongside existing MPLS during a phased migration or as a full replacement.
One design pattern, applied consistently. New sites onboard against a template rather than being configured from scratch, and changes propagate through governed workflows rather than site-by-site.
Path health, application performance, incident response and SLA delivery in one view, the evidence that the network is doing its job, and the early signal of the next problem before it becomes a ticket.
Most estates don’t migrate on day one. Begin with the one or two sites where the pain is highest, prove the model, and scale from there.
What's included
Cloud Gateway designs the network, sources and manages the circuits, deploys the edge at each site, and operates the whole estate from a UK NOC. You don’t need a network specialist on hand to make it work, and we work alongside your team where you have one.
Core capability includes application-aware routing across multiple circuit types; automatic failover and load balancing; quality-of-service enforcement; centralised, template-driven policy and configuration; and continuous monitoring with change records generated automatically. Deployment runs in waves rather than big-bang migrations, starting with priority sites.
The WAN underneath
SD-WAN runs over real circuits, and Cloud Gateway sources and manages them as part of the platform provision. Last-mile options include Ethernet over FTTC, Ethernet over FTTP, fibre-based Ethernet (leased lines) and internet breakout, with bandwidths from 10Mbps to 10Gbps per tail. Where you have circuits already under contract or strategically valuable, you can bring them.
How deployment works
We design and roll out the network in stages rather than all at once.
01. Step one
First, assessment and design: our team reviews your current network and application requirements and designs the SD-WAN configuration, whether that’s five sites or a hundred.
02. Step two
Second, deployment: we deploy the edge at each location and configure routing and policy, typically bringing a site online within days of circuits being available.
03. Step three
Third, intelligent traffic management: once live, the network steers traffic by application priority and live path quality, with critical applications getting the performance they need.
04. Step four
Fourth, continuous optimisation: we monitor performance, adjust routing, and act on issues proactively from the UK NOC, with full visibility through the Portal.
Our case studies
Organisations
we’ve helped
Common questions about Business Everywhere: SD-WAN
What is SD-WAN, and how does it differ from MPLS?
SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) uses multiple underlying transport circuits, broadband, fibre, 4G, 5G, MPLS, and intelligently steers application traffic across them based on path quality and policy. MPLS is a single private transport technology with fixed routing and limited cloud awareness. SD-WAN replaces or augments MPLS for better cloud-application performance, multi-path resilience, faster site deployment and lower per-site cost.
Can SD-WAN replace MPLS entirely?
In most cases, yes. SD-WAN can fully replace MPLS, including in regulated environments, provided it’s delivered with the security, segmentation and assurance the environment requires. Many organisations run SD-WAN alongside MPLS first, then move sites across as contracts expire.
How long does deployment take?
Individual sites are typically operational within days once circuits are available. Multi-site estates roll out in waves rather than all at once; a mid-sized estate is usually fully migrated over a few months, far faster than traditional MPLS procurement cycles.
Does Cloud Gateway provide the circuits, or do I bring my own?
Cloud Gateway sources and manages circuits as part of the service, working with trusted UK partner carriers to deliver Ethernet over FTTC and FTTP, leased lines and internet breakout. You can also bring existing circuits where they’re under contract or strategically valuable.
What's the difference between WAN and SD-WAN?
A WAN connects geographically separate locations. SD-WAN adds a software control layer over that network, letting traffic be routed and changed centrally and intelligently, and combining private and internet transport. On the Cloud Gateway platform the two are delivered together: the WAN is the transport, SD-WAN is the intelligence that runs it.
Is SD-WAN secure enough for sensitive data?
SD-WAN can be delivered with the security and segmentation regulated environments require. The platform’s security layer can be applied across the SD-WAN estate so policy is consistent across every site. For how this works, see Protect.
Related reading
Most customers who deploy SD-WAN extend the platform over time: Business Everywhere: DC Interconnect for high-speed data-centre links, Business Everywhere: Remote Access for users connecting from anywhere, Business Connect: Cloud for private cloud paths, and Managed Firewall or Secure Internet Access to secure the estate, all under one operating model.
A network designed
to keep up with you
Most providers sell you circuits and leave the performance to chance, or an overlay and leave the circuits to someone else. Cloud Gateway designs the network, sources the circuits, runs the intelligence on top, and operates the whole estate from a UK NOC, with the visibility to prove it’s performing and the standardised design to keep it that way as you grow. One platform, one UK team, one point of accountability.