Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp for SaaS At-a-Glance

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Updated:October 27, 2023

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The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.

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Table of Contents

 

 

The hybrid cloud connectivity dilemma

The world is moving to the cloud, with enterprises adopting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications like never before. That’s great for enterprises because it often means reduced operating expenses and the ability to access SaaS applications from multiple locations across the world.

However, these applications rely on fast, efficient, and secure network connectivity, and that introduces new IT challenges. The legacy WAN architecture that takes traffic from branches to data centers and then to the internet poses major problems in this new cloud paradigm, such as inefficiency, high costs due to expensive links, and performance degradation caused by latency, all of which can impact the user experience. In this scenario, how do you optimize connectivity?

Optimal application experience

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN helps optimize the application experience with Cloud OnRamp for SaaS. The solution uses real-time analytics to steer users over an optimal path for seamless site-to-application performance, supporting 14 popular SaaS applications as well as direct internet access from branch sites and gateways at regional data centers.

End-to-end data sharing provides greater visibility between cloud and branch and delivers greater insight into application performance, allowing you to optimize the user experience without human intervention. Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp for SaaS continuously monitors all possible paths to SaaS applications and intelligently routes cloud application traffic to the best-performing path, providing a fast, secure, and reliable end-user experience for customers and employees, both on-premises and for SaaS/cloud applications.

Cisco also provides enterprises the flexibility to define their own applications and customize the solution to suit their specific business needs and security requirements. With ease of automation, intelligent traffic routing, and greater visibility into network performance, Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp empowers enterprises with unique capabilities to enhance the workforce productivity and network efficiency of their business, making SaaS easy from anywhere and everywhere.

Benefits

Key benefits of Cloud OnRamp for SaaS

Benefits of using Cloud OnRamp for SaaS include:

     Reliability: Dynamically route SaaS traffic to the best path, providing a fast, secure, and reliable end-user experience.

     Visibility: Gain real-time and historical visibility into application performance through QoE metrics.

     Automation: Automatically apply application-aware routing policies for direct branch connectivity to trusted applications.

Cloud OnRamp for SaaS solutions

     Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Webex

One of the many applications supported by Cisco Cloud OnRamp for SaaS is Webex. In the current new normal of working remotely from home or anywhere else in the world, Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp for SaaS has taken communication, collaboration, and video capabilities to the next level. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN segregates Webex traffic from generic internet traffic and routes it via the best path from a specific branch router to deliver a seamless, consistent, and high-quality user experience (Figure 1). Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Analytics delivers enhanced analytics with insights into application and network performance via Webex telemetry.

Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Webex

Figure 1.               

Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Webex

     Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Microsoft 365

Cisco Cloud OnRamp for SaaS also optimizes Microsoft 365 apps, using URL categorization for Microsoft 365 apps to segregate and prioritize the most important communications from the rest so that enterprises have the flexibility to customize and personalize based on their individual needs.

Enterprises gain deeper visibility into network and application analytics and performance through informed network routing telemetry for Microsoft Exchange, Teams, and SharePoint. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN also provides path analytics which allows users to enable best path selection via network telemetry for all available branch to Microsoft 365 SaaS application paths, as well as application feedback for Microsoft 365 performance. The end result is a seamless Microsoft 365 user experience via path optimization, deeper analytics, and policy automation (Figure 2).

Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Microsoft 365

Figure 2.               

Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Microsoft 365

     Other SaaS and Custom applications

Cloud OnRamp for SaaS is an automated and holistic solution supporting not just Webex and Microsoft 365 but also other top business applications, including AWS, Google applications, Oracle, Salesforce, Dropbox, Box, SAP Concur, Zendesk, Intuit, SugarCRM, GoToMeeting, and Zoho, to provide a seamless user experience. In addition, the solution automates best path selection for custom and standard NBAR (Network Based Application Recognition) applications, allowing enterprises to enable Cloud OnRamp for SaaS capabilities with the application of their choice.

     Cloud OnRamp for SaaS: Kubernetes Integration

The Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp for SaaS: Kubernetes integration reduces time to configure Cloud OnRamp for SaaS, enabling automation and optimization of traffic between Kubernetes applications and the SaaS they are consuming. The integration extracts pre-defined SaaS connectivity requirements from Kubernetes applications and automatically programs those into Cloud OnRamp for SaaS.

     Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Secure Internet Gateway (SIG)

The Cloud OnRamp for SaaS with Cisco Umbrella, Zscaler, and other SIG solutions enables secure access to SaaS applications via path-optimized, granular security controls and automated, policy-based routing. This integration delivers optimal application performance for SaaS applications by using the best-performing SIG tunnel.

Learn more

Interested in learning more about Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp for SaaS? Please visit the following resources:

     What Is Cloud OnRamp for SaaS? video

     Cloud OnRamp for SaaS white paper

     Cloud OnRamp for SaaS infographic

     Cloud OnRamp with Microsoft 365 demo video

     Cloud OnRamp with Microsoft 365 white paper

     Cloud OnRamp with Webex demo video

     Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp – cisco.com/go/onramp

 

 

 

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