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Tata, Fortinet to offer managed services for Microsoft Azure virtual WAN
Firms launch one of the first industry offerings of native hybrid SD-WAN coupled with traffic steering and security protection for the Azure cloud
Tata Communications Transformation Services (TCTS) and Fortinet have launched a fully managed SD-WAN offering for Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN.
This is one of the first industry offerings of native hybrid SD-WAN coupled with traffic steering and security protection for Azure’s cloud. It is also designed to enable inter-branch connectivity for customers using the Microsoft backbone and help them meet service-level agreements (SLAs) while securing access to applications running on Azure.
TCTS said that as cloud complexity continues to grow, enterprises are grappling with the many functions, gateways, configuration, segmentation and monitoring of virtual private clouds (VPCs) across infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) datacentres, regions and worldwide deployments.
It pointed out that the configuration of SD-WAN, virtual private networks (VPNs), routing tables, security, gateways and hybrid connectivity within a public cloud continues to be a problem area for most enterprises and, as the cloud expands to the edge, including managed network connections between clouds and service providers, cloud complexity will be even more challenging to configure and operate.
In the new offering, TCTS has augmented Azure’s current virtual WAN, in which application policies can be configured centrally using Fortinet’s SD-WAN technologies integrated with Equinix Network Edge to create virtual network services that it claims can deliver enhanced performance and security protection.
Part of the company’s cloud networking-as-a-service (CNaaS) portfolio, the offering also uses TCTS virtualisation consulting, deployment and operation services.
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Through the new system, enterprises can use a hybrid deployment of MPLS and internet to steer the traffic between mission-critical traffic (MPLS and Carrier Ethernet) and non-mission-critical traffic (internet), which further connects directly to Azure via Azure ExpressRoute.
This connection can be established using the TCTS Virtual Cloud exchange platform for building within native service provider environments or white-labelled options using the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric) and Network Edge offerings within datacentres globally.
Using the service from TCTS, service providers can enable Azure enterprise customers to choose either a standard offering that needs no further SD-WAN virtual network function (VNF) in Azure, or an option that places a SD-WAN VNF in Azure to deliver SD-WAN application traffic steering and security protection.
TCTS will also offer to provide customers with professional services for Azure CNaaS capabilities in planning deployment and operations.
