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Cisco is announcing simplified reference designs for Secure SD-WAN enabled by business nbn™ building on the Cisco and NBN Co collaboration announcement in 2019, to enhance and accelerate the digital capability of Australian businesses

  • The solutions comprise of a combination of business nbn™ services with Cisco Secure SD-WAN equipment that Cisco has comprehensively tested and documented to simplify deployment.
  • The objective of Cisco’s reference Validated Designs are to provide the foundation for systems design based on common use cases or current engineering system priorities, incorporating a broad set of technologies, features, and applications to address customer needs
  • Solutions are based on pre-tested design options that are available via Cisco resellers – Retail Service Providers (RSPs), Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Systems Integrators (SIs)

1st June 2020 – Cisco is announcing the availability of its Secure SD-WAN solution enabled by business nbn™, designed to simplify SD-WAN deployment across Australia.

As Australian businesses rapidly migrate to cloud-based services and direct internet access, increased demands such as workforce mobility and business-critical applications running over the internet, and across multiple clouds, have made businesses vulnerable to a lack of bandwidth and security. Traditional WAN architectures haven’t been able to keep up.

Cisco’s Secure SD-WAN provides a solution to these challenges, designed to improve network speed, security and efficiency. However, access to quality connectivity is needed as a foundation for SD-WAN. Businesses are running up against significant complexity in terms of circuit and SD-WAN equipment selection, integration, configuration and operation. Securing all of this adds another layer of complexity for channels taking these solutions to market.

Karen Negus, Managing Director for Service Provider, Cisco Australia & New Zealand, said, “In 2019, SD-WAN really started taking off, not only in Australia but globally. Cisco recognises the enormous potential of SD-WAN for Australian businesses, with its cloud-first architecture. Access to quality connectivity is the pre-requisite and is why we are working with business nbn™. There are many options for customers to choose from, and it can be complex, however Cisco has worked with nbn’s engineers to make it easier for businesses to access a quality SD-WAN service.”

Cisco recently completed testing of Cisco SD-WAN equipment over business nbn™ in nbn’s National Test Facility to provide a series of reference designs for Australian businesses of any size. These solutions have been designed, tested, and documented by Cisco with assistance from nbn™ engineers. Solutions can be purchased from Cisco resellers – RSPs, MSPs and SIs. They cannot be purchased directly from either nbn or Cisco.

Negus continued, “Cisco is pleased to be the first SD-WAN vendor to have conducted testing of our equipment over the nbn™ network. The Secure SD-WAN pre-tested solutions offer simplicity, speedy time to market and enhanced customer satisfaction.”

This marks the next phase in the collaboration, where Cisco engineers have been working with the support of nbn™ engineers to address this major challenge, and to remove as much complexity and testing from the channel and/or customers as possible. The solution is provided in the form of Cisco’s Validated Designs, which involve Cisco testing and documenting solutions before they go to the channel.

In December 2019, Cisco presented draft solutions to a number of RSPs and MSPs to get their feedback. Based on this, Cisco is announcing the first set of pre-tested SD-WAN solutions operating on business nbn™ to the market.

Keith Masterton, General Manager, Business Channels, NBN Co, said “With new technologies and cloud services providing a whole range of competitive benefits to businesses, it’s important that they have access to the solutions they need over the nbn™ network, wherever they happen to be doing business. We’re delighted with the work Cisco has done to develop simplified solutions for Australian businesses, making it easier for them to capture the opportunities presented in the digital world.”

Since Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration investment announcement at Cisco Live Melbourne in 2019, Cisco has led a focused effort to educate and build awareness around the opportunity to securely connect and access business and enterprise grade technology, that RSPs or ICT Channel Partners can bundle and deliver to the market leveraging business nbn™ as the foundation.

ENDS

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*nbn provides wholesale services to phone and internet providers.

nbn™ and other nbn™ brands are trade marks of nbn co limited and used under licence.