BT has launched BT Agile Connect, a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) service – powered by Nuage Networks from Nokia — for large enterprises.
Greater control and understanding of IT infrastructure and traffic flows, a secure way of setting up new sites, reduced network complexity and lower costs are the benefits offered by BT’s SD-WAN service.
BT said Agile Connect equipment has gone live within the networks of several large enterprises and is ready for volume deployment for existing and new customers.
Agile Connect uses software-defined networking (SDN) on a national or global scale to determine the most effective route for traffic to take across a customer’s wide area network. Its routing allows enterprises to meet bandwidth demand and introduce access services to their network or by making better use of back-up connections.
It also ensures that traffic from high-priority business applications always takes the best performing route.
BT said its customers can prioritize applications or manage use of access services via an interactive portal. They also gain an improved visibility of application performance. Customers can implement changes centrally without the need for expensive local technical support.
Agile Connect includes a BT pre-built controller infrastructure hosted on the internet and on BT’s multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network.
It also uses BT pre-built MPLS Internet gateways to offer simple cloud-based connectivity between Internet-connected and MPLS-connected sites.
“Agile Connect gives BT customers robust SD-WAN at the right price, designed with ease of use and customer experience at its heart,” said Maria Grazia Pecorari, president, digital, global portfolio & marketing, Global Services, BT.
BT is delivering Agile Connect as a single box located on the edge of their network, with further services added as additional devices. In the future, Agile Connect will support virtual network functions (VNFs), with new services deployed virtually to the Agile Connect device, removing the need to install multiple boxes.
