Lower your local government’s total cost of ownership (TCO) with SD-WAN

As government budgets tighten, municipalities and local agencies must meet the demands required to serve connected societies while simultaneously reducing the cost of acquiring, managing and inevitably replacing their IT assets. The latter, a concept broadly known as total cost of ownership or TCO, can weigh heavily on the minds of many public-sector leaders. 

Yet this challenge also presents an opportunity creative local government CIOs can seize by utilizing a networking innovation already in widespread use in the private sector.

The implementation of software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) is quickly reshaping how enterprises do business, eliminating operational barriers while enhancing overall security. For local governments, SD-WAN can also be a tool for accomplishing needed and cost-effective change.

While legacy WANs or Multiprotocol Legacy Switching (MPLS) systems can impose a rigid and expensive framework on its users, SD-WAN gives IT teams critical flexibility in how they manage their data needs. SD-WAN also addresses major concerns all municipal agencies currently face around security, service and scale.

Boost security without adding hardware

The reputation of local governments for being inadequately funded and staffed has not gone unnoticed by ransomware users and other agents of the dark web. According to one estimate, 69% of local governments surveyed in 2024 reported being the target of at least one phishing attack, up from 58% the year before.

“A well-prepared municipality safeguards not only its data but also the trust of the residents who rely on the continuity of essential services,” reports American City & County.com.

SD-WAN allows local governments to raise their security settings by centralizing network oversight around a single hub. Instead of requiring multiple firewalls to protect the network wherever it meets the public, SD-WAN can effectively integrate security hardware. It also simplifies the task of monitoring traffic as it passes across the network.

In the past, MPLS systems were seen as offering reliable and secure connectivity for networks. Today, the challenge of working across systems and into the cloud demands greater flexibility than MPLS can offer.

There are many strong arguments for local government IT leaders to shift their networks from an MPLS model to SD-WAN. These can center on diverse external and internal considerations, such as adding built-in failover to a network or enabling the management of more locations with less resources. Ultimately the strongest attraction for SD-WAN adoption is a network that is easier to manage and protect that also can respond to the growing needs of a municipality. 

As TCO concerns become more central to local government IT, so does the need for a network with the ability to leverage security hardware in a more cost-effective way. Any step that does this while reducing an organization’s vulnerability to data theft is a step worth taking.

Expand service, not size, with SD-WAN

While traditional WAN set-ups are dependent on multiple servers to share services, this is becoming less practical when more services rest in the cloud. SD-WAN is a tool for expanding the use of cloud-based services that live outside the network, thus reducing cost.

SD-WAN is designed to streamline utilization of critical cloud services:

“IT fights a daily, complex battle of connecting multiple types of users with multiple types of devices to multiple cloud environments. With SD-WAN, IT can deliver routing, threat protection, efficient offloading of expensive circuits, and simplification of WAN network management.”

For local government entities, this is especially critical as cloud utilization as a cost controllable service is another tool in the battle to manage TCO. SD-WAN expands the range of services offered to the public while keeping costly hardware demand under control.

Because it is designed to accommodate use of the network from any location, SD-WAN also embraces a wider-ranging service modality from the user perspective. Members of the public can access their local government network from home in a safe manner. By contrast, MPLS networks deny useful access to members of the public.

At the same time, SD-WAN networks can service healthy internal synergies at local governments. Different departments at the same municipal agency can coordinate their online service offerings more comprehensively, reducing the impact of siloed services on the public as well as the municipal budget. 

Driving scale while lowering TCO

Cost effectiveness can be especially difficult when it comes to meeting a growing demand for online services. For local governments, reduced bandwidth and higher latency are often the price of failure when resources are strained by spikes in network use.

With SD-WAN, networks are not taxed by adding more locations. Nor are they restricted to a single circuit when accessing high speed data streams. Instead of building out server space to accommodate higher than normal traffic patterns, an SD-WAN network can be programmed to expand bandwidth to different locations at specific times.

Scalability is a key SD-WAN benefit, one that local governments can appreciate as they ramp up to provide needed services in times of fiscal challenge. The SD-WAN model is designed to scale up in order to accommodate data center traffic, independent of the size of the organization itself.

SD-WAN can also service multiple locations without significantly increasing infrastructure costs, thus helping local governments manage another aspect of their TCO.

“Scaling a traditional WAN network is time and resource intensive, requiring circuit delivery and equipment provisioning to initiate a complicated change management process.” With SD-WAN, this process is greatly simplified, reducing the strain on IT services as well as budgets.

A path to modernization

In addition to security, service and scale, SD-WAN has other advantages. One commonly cited benefit is that SD-WAN can identify the best possible routes for traffic, improving overall speed and service quality. This upgrade has clear relevance for local governments who understand the need to meet the higher expectations of a digital-savvy public.

Spectrum Business can help

Do you want to learn more about how your local government organization can actualize the benefits of SD-WAN, in consultation with a managed services provider? Learn more by reaching out to Spectrum Business and discover the multitude of options available to you.