What is WAN Optimization and why Would I Want it?

What is WAN Optimization and why Would I Want it?

Providing connectivity from a company's headquarters to its remote locations is a pretty typical process. With WAN (wide-area network) capabilities, retail companies, financial institutions, healthcare organizations and manufacturers can stay connected. This is great, but with increased demand, nonstop use and the sheer volume of users depending on WAN, it's important to ensure your organization's current connection can handle your organization's needs. 

What is WAN Optimization? 

ThinkstockPhotos-506713786.jpgA surprising number of today's businesses and organizations run on a connectivity equivalent of dial-up. Remember dial-up? It was slow and unreliable. Waiting for images to load and files to download was standard practice, and if someone made a phone call, the connection could just drop. In its business equivalent, standard WAN can result in low speeds and poor customer service, creating a wait for data downloads and cause dropped calls. All in all, not good for business. 

In short, WAN optimization is a process of assessing your current connection, increasing its speed and increasing its reliability. The assessment involves taking stock of your current connection, including its capabilities and limitations. With an understanding of your organization's connectivity needs, our technology experts can recommend a more effective solution. 

How Do Businesses Benefit from WAN Optimization? 

While the fine details depend upon your current connection and your needs, the typical optimizations include replacing a single, low-speed connection with two high-speed connections. This way, if one connection fails, there's a second one to take over. With dual connectivity, your end user won't even realize anything has occurred. And, they'll carry on seamlessly. WAN optimization keeps staff and end-users securely connected with data and communications. It brings intelligence and connectivity together. 

From its onset, WAN has been about enabling connectivity, and it's made it easy for users to get what they need from remote locations without needing to work directly with headquarters. In short, WAN optimization is a pathway toward saving money, increasing the end user's experience and allowing your business or organization to focus on your work instead of focusing on technological hurdles.  

WAN Optimization Is Easy

Perhaps the most difficult idea to get across about WAN optimization is that it's easy. If you're already a Marco customer, it's likely you already have the hardware. We have the capabilities to handle the entire WAN optimization process, from initial assessments and outfitting to install and carrier service. You can work with a single source for full deployment and reap the benefits of WAN optimization faster than you think. 

Connect with a Technology Advisor Start the Conversation

Related Posts

Ransomware Response Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide for SMBs
Ransomware Response Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide for SMBs

I've helped businesses through ransomware attacks, and the first hour matters more than almost anything else. What you do in that hour decides how fast you recover, how much you lo...

The Best Data Backup Solutions for Your Business
The Best Data Backup Solutions for Your Business

Too many businesses assume their backups are fine — only to get a terrible surprise if a server crashes, someone deletes the wrong folder, or ransomware locks everything down overn...

Healthcare Cybersecurity in 2026
Healthcare Cybersecurity in 2026

Cyberattacks and IT incidents have risen sharply in 2025 and 2026, and if current trends are any indication, cybercriminals are becoming bolder and far more dangerous. Just this pa...

5 Common Healthcare Cybersecurity Challenges (And How MDR/SOC Can Help)
5 Common Healthcare Cybersecurity Challenges (And How MDR/SOC Can Help)

In our conversations with healthcare clients, we hear the same five security challenges come up again and again. If you're reading this, you're probably dealing with some version o...

The State of Healthcare Cybersecurity in 2026
The State of Healthcare Cybersecurity in 2026

When I work with healthcare clients, one of the first things I tell them is that I completely understand how difficult it has been to prioritize cybersecurity updates when their va...

NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Full Overview & Guide
NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Full Overview & Guide

Back in 2013, the federal government directed NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) to work with industry leaders to build a common framework for cybersecurity risk...

Urgent PaperCut NG/MF Vulnerability: What You Need to Know
Urgent PaperCut NG/MF Vulnerability: What You Need to Know

If you run PaperCut NG or PaperCut MF, this is the one advisory to stop and read today. In short: PaperCut has confirmed active, real-world exploitation of a vulnerability affectin...

How To Measure Your Cybersecurity Posture Against the NIST Framework
How To Measure Your Cybersecurity Posture Against the NIST Framework

A lot of businesses aren’t sure whether they actually have cybersecurity best practices in place. To be fair, cybersecurity is a moving target, and what was considered sufficient p...

The AI Governance Framework Every Org Needs Before Scaling AI
The AI Governance Framework Every Org Needs Before Scaling AI

AI is showing up in the enterprise faster than most governance programs can keep pace with: forecasting models, customer service bots, code generation tools, decision-support syste...

What Is Vishing?
What Is Vishing?

Vishing is short for “voice phishing.” Like other forms of phishing attacks — including email and text-based scams — the goal is to trick someone into handing over credentials, fin...