U S E C A S E B R I E F

Enabling Next-Generation Financial Experiences with CloudGenix AppFabric SD-WANFinancial Institutions can modernize to increase brand loyalty and revenue using CloudGenix

Three transformational shifts have affected financial institutions (FIs) over the past decade. First, cloud computing and SaaS have introduced new and economical models for infrastructure. Second, the ubiquity of high speed broadband Internet yield greater performance and capacity for branches. And finally, technology has emerged enabling immersive, digital experiences for customers, which help drive brand preference, customer satisfaction, and higher levels of engagement. While these three shifts have the ability to radically improve the way business is done for FIs, legacy approaches to WAN and application architecture, coupled with increasing security and compliance pressure, make adoption of these desirable models difficult.

CLOUD COMPUTING

AND SAAS

UBIQUITOUS LOW-COST

HIGH SPEED INTERNET

DIGITIZED BRANCH

IMMERSIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Challenges

FIs are among the organizations most heavily burdened by security and

compliance requirements. Safeguarding data for customers and their ac-

counts—along with personally identifiable information (PII) are of the utmost

importance. As a result, many FIs take a risk-averse approach to their net-

work architecture, including their WAN, and have opted for private MPLS

links and deep security and monitoring technology at the perimeter. FI

infrastructure is under heavy scrutiny to ensure that data is only accessible

to those that require access, and that when in transit, in use, or at rest, it is

protected through comprehensive access control and encryption techniques.

FI infrastructure systems must be maintained with a similar level of care to

reduce the surface area of attack.

Because of this security-first architecture, FIs experience the following challenges:

 

CloudGenix SD-WAN for Financial Institutions

CloudGenix Software-Defined WAN

(SD-WAN) enables FIs to securely

integrate broadband Internet at the

branch, confidently deploy cloud and

SaaS applications, and adopt rich,

modern, digital experience platforms

to increase customer engagement

and brand loyalty. Instant-On Net-

work (ION) devices deployed in the

remote office and the data center

automatically build a secure AppFab-

ric—an application-defined network—

between locations over any WAN link,

and begin handling traffic according

to policies for performance, security,

and compliance. WAN management is

transformed from low-level network-

ing rules to high-level business poli-

cies encompassing applications, sites,

WAN links, and desired service levels.

C L O U D G E N I X | U S E C A S E B R I E F | F I N A N C E | 2

FIGURE 2: APPFABRIC USES METRICS FROM WAN AND APPLICATION HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE TO ENSURE THE BEST POSSIBLE USER EXPERIENCE.

transaction time

failures/errors

fingerprintCODEC

directionality

MOS

#flowssize

Application Sessions

jitter

size

loss

pps

Packets

packet

OTHERS APPFABRIC

session

Data Center

Public Cloud/SaaS

Recreational Internet

Software

CloudGenixController

Remote O�ce

MPLS

INTERNET

LTE

PCI/HIPAA/SOX

FIGURE 1: CLOUDGENIX ENABLES FIS TO SECURELY INTEGRATE MULTIPLE TRANSPORTS WITH APPLICATION-LEVEL CONTROLS FOR PERFORMANCE, SECURITY, AND COMPLIANCE.

DIFFCULTY

in adopting direct Internet in the branch office

HESITATION

while adopting applications in the cloud or SaaS applications

INABILITY

to adopt digitized platforms to optimize customer experience due to the WAN

Unlike packet-routed solutions that use link-level metrics (bandwidth,

packet loss, latency, link reachability), CloudGenix utilizes actual application

transaction metrics in addition to these WAN link metrics to make real-time

decisions on how application traffic should be handled in accordance with

configured policy. The result is that the highest level of application perfor-

mance user experience can be achieved.

SECURE INTEGRATION OF HIGH SPEED INTERNET

CloudGenix ION builds a secure AppFabric between devices to ensure

communication between sites is encrypted using compliant encryption

protocols. With an integrated application-aware zone-based firewall in

each device, adding direct Internet connections in the branch becomes

possible. Further, application policies can specify which classes of WAN

links can be used by specific applications to ensure a clear scope of com-

pliance where appropriate.

CONSISTENT SECURITY PERIMETER AT ALL SITES

Coupled with the app-aware zone-based firewall in each branch, Cloud-

Genix simplifies the integration of third-party cloud-delivered security and

threat prevention services. Policies can specify which applications must

traverse these services—which typically include firewalls, intrusion detec-

tion and prevention—to ensure each application meets the security needs

of the organization.

CONFIDENT INTEGRATION OF CLOUD INTO THE BRANCH

FIs have been hesitant to adopt cloud and SaaS applications because of

not only security and compliance concerns, but also because performance

issues caused by backhauling cloud-based traffic through the data cen-

ter. Leveraging direct Internet in the branch and the security capabilities

of CloudGenix allows branches to leverage direct Internet paths to cloud

services, providing FIs more confidence in the security, compliance, and

performance of connecting cloud and SaaS-based applications.

FASTER TURN-UP OF BRANCH SITES

With legacy WAN architectures based on private MPLS WAN links, getting

a new branch site up and running can often take months in contract negoti-

ations, link procurement, and complicated networking configurations. With

CloudGenix, ION devices can be preconfigured centrally and shipped to

new sites ready for operation. Broadband Internet circuits can be acquired

in configured in days, meaning new branches can be online within a matter

of days instead of months.

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CLOUDGENIX ALLOWS BRANCHES

TO LEVERAGE DIRECT INTERNET

PATHS TO CLOUD SERVICES,

PROVIDING FIS MORE CONFIDENCE

IN THE SECURITY, COMPLIANCE, AND

PERFORMANCE CLOUD, SAAS, AND

BANDWIDTH-INTENSIVE VIDEO-BASED

APPLICATIONS.

© 2017 Cloudgenix inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT CLOUDGENIXCloudGenix provides a software-defined WAN solution with AppFabric technology that enables you to build a global WAN based

on business policies for application performance, compliance, and security, across all sites and users. Unlike router-based solutions,

CloudGenix AppFabric allows you to define top-down global policies based on business intent rather than fragmented bottoms-up

configuration changes based on technical implementation. With CloudGenix, you can easily integrate heterogeneous WAN connections

for any site, take advantage of cloud and SaaS applications, improve visibility for app performance and SLAs, and dramatically simplify

network operations.

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SEE CLOUDGENIX IN ACTION FOR YOURSELF! VISIT WWW.CLOUDGENIX.COM/TRIAL TO REGISTER FOR A NO-RISK FREE TRIAL TODAY.

IMPROVED RESPONSIVENESS OF CUSTOMER APPS

CloudGenix monitors not only WAN health and performance (bandwidth, latency,

packet loss, jitter) but also transaction metrics to understand the user experience with

a given application. These metrics are used to dynamically select the best performing

path based on the user experience ot ensure optimal performance. Further, with direct

Internet connections in the remote office, many cloud and SaaS apps—and in many

cases even data center apps—benefit from lower latency and higher bandwidth con-

nectivity. To ensure complete control and compliance, policies can be configured to

dicate which WAN links can be used for a given application.

EMBRACING IMMERSIVE, DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES

Many FIs want to integrate immersive, digital customer experiences including video

(such as digital signage, interactive kiosks, and video automated teller machines, i.e.

vATMs) in the branch. Doing so is practically impossible with legacy WAN architectures

built on MPLS links due to limited bandwidth. With CloudGenix, direct Internet con-

nections can be deployed which provide the benefit of the high bandwidth demanded

by video applications. This allows FIs to integrate the very desirable next generation

of experiences to improve customer satisfaction, increase brand loyalty, and increase

adoption of available financial products and offerings.

C L O U D G E N I X | U S E C A S E B R I E F | F I N A N C E | 4

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