WEI Tech Exchange

Boost Security And Performance with Juniper Networks’ Session Smart Router

By Patrick Gamble |   Nov 12, 2023

Just as you rely on business-critical applications every day in the workplace, those same applications rely on a network that is available, scalable, and secure. But if an enterprise’s network architecture falls on the traditional side, this can complicate matters with the utilization of middleboxes like firewalls, load balancers, and tunnels for packet forwarding. This complexity comes with a high cost, hindering the deployment of new applications and creating challenges for intensive workloads like supporting video or connecting a widespread mobile workforce.

Is Your Network Future Proof? Five Reasons You Should Embrace NaaS

By Victor Fabian |   Aug 01, 2023

It is no surprise most enterprises are prioritizing network modernization in the day and age of digital transformation. Outdated infrastructure harms productivity and hinders security, making it a challenge to build a future-ready network that meets evolving expectations. All too often, our team will assess networks based on traditional VLAN architectures that will 100% struggle to accommodate hundreds of thousands of users and devices. A modern network should seamlessly connect remote workers to physical locations, data centers, and the cloud, following an edge-centric and data-driven approach.

Why It Is Time To Transition To The Secure Access Service Edge

By Josh Cronin |   Jul 04, 2023

The fields of science and IT are constantly evolving. Just when we get comfortable, things change, forcing us to create new theories that drive new ways of doing things. For example, before the germ theory of disease was developed in the late 19^th century, doctors thought disease was spread by miasma or “bad air.” Sounds ludicrous, but this was a reality at one time. 

There are IT practices and methodologies that appear just as outlandish today. For instance, remember the practice of backhauling all internet traffic to the corporate data center via expensive MPLS lines and VPNs? With the advent of cloud services, routing traffic to the corporate network seemed as absurd as the idea of a flat earth.

How to Connect & Protect for Zero Trust Security

By Greg LaBrie |   May 25, 2023

Do you trust your network? Performance may be in an optimal place, and workplace operations are thankful for that. But what about security? ‘Zero Trust’ is a practice every IT leader and decision maker should be educated on as more and more organizations have realized that all attacks don’t originate from the other side of the firewall. Attacks can be launched from anywhere, including within the network itself. Network administrators must always operate under the assumption that their network has already been breached. And sadly, for some reading this article, that may be the case.

Four Significant Ways Retail Businesses Adopt Experience-First Networking

By Greg LaBrie |   May 16, 2023

Delivering a personalized and efficient shopping experience to customers is crucial in today's competitive retail landscape. Whether customers are shopping online or offline, achieving this goal requires retail organizations to take experience-first networking strategies. To successfully create this in a hybrid cloud era, retailers must meet these four key requirements: 

• Setting up a heightened Wi-Fi connection for employees
• Optimizing location-based services
• Establishing a reliable network infrastructure
• Forming a unified data and connection security between retailers and customers

A Solution To Cyber Resiliency: Dell PowerEdge Servers

By Mark Hargreaves |   May 02, 2023

IT professionals understand the significance of a secure IT infrastructure, and one of WEI's longtime partners continues doing their part to help clients with  cybersecurity. Dell's next-generation PowerEdge servers implement a seven-pillar approach to cyber resiliency, meeting the U.S. Department of Defense standards for Zero Trust. This ensures thorough verification of every aspect of your IT environment, providing cyber resiliency and safeguarding data against malicious attacks, offering peace of mind for not only your IT team, but the entire organization it supports.

The Top 5 SD-WAN Trends And How They Benefit Your Business

By Victor Fabian |   Mar 07, 2023

With the rise of hybrid workplaces, software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WANs) are becoming increasingly popular due to their scalability, cost-efficiency, and improved user experiences. Organizations must be prepared by taking advantage of centralized SD-WAN platforms to remain resilient during times of crisis. In an earlier article, we covered the reasons why your enterprise needs a centralized SD-WAN platform. This article examines five key SD-WAN trends that organizations need to incorporate into their SD-WAN strategy to rebound from current challenges and thrive in the future.

Zero-Trust Security Strategy With Juniper Networks' Intent-Based Networking

By Greg LaBrie |   Dec 08, 2022

This summer and fall, our team has written a great deal on how Juniper Networks' intent-based networking (IBN) technology is helping companies automate the configuration, deployment, and management of enterprise data center components. We’ve identified how IBN validates the operational state of the network to ensure that it matches its slated intentions. That’s important because in the end, your technology investments are only effective if they further the business objectives of the organization. IBN prevents your technology directives from going adrift.

But what about security? Security must always be part of any discussion involving new technology solutions due to the prevalence of cyberattacks that originate from an ever-expanding threat landscape. The increasing risk factors that companies face today are forcing them to adapt zero-trust security strategies to reduce their threat exposure. Juniper Apstra not only complies with a zero-trust security mandate, but it also helps enforce it.

Cisco Paves The Way To A Secure Passwordless Future

By Josh Cronin |   Sep 13, 2022

How many accounts do you log in to every day that require a password? Chances are there are quite a few with banking, health portals, shopping, email, and gaming among the common account types. As more enterprises move forward with their digital transformation efforts, password use will only increase. With the shift to a digital presence, customers, vendors, and employees will eventually need unique account credentials to access the information they require – adding yet another password they must memorize.

Meaningful Cybersecurity Requires ZTNA, Not VPN

By Michael Thweatt |   May 26, 2022

Our review of 2021 IT trends reported that Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) was not only a common feature for enterprise IT teams, but that it will be sticking around for the near future, too. Much of this is attributed to shifting remote work architectures, which have made traditional perimeter security architectures essentially outdated. As organizations move away from a full-on remote workforce and into more of a hybrid model, ZTNA features remain just as important.