There is no doubt that the future of work for almost everyone is hybrid, but the reality of keeping a hybrid workplace up and running is a complex endeavor. Whether your business has 100, 1000, or 100,000 employees, keeping them connected and secure from wherever they choose to work, is no small task.

The race to keep ahead of this hybrid workforce has also accelerated the journey to the cloud for many enterprises. Over the past 18 months we've seen increased  investment in public and virtual private cloud services as  businesses turn to platforms that provide more resource flexibility and performance for a distributed workforce. Why is this so critical? In the recent Cisco Hybrid Work Index survey, 76% of workers reported they expect a consistent experience regardless of whether they're in-office or offsite.

Alongside this global requirement for performance and convenience is the challenge network security teams face: how to maintain optimal connectivity, continually improve security and visibility, and somehow keep operating costs down.

Optimizing your connection to the cloud

Fortunately, where there's a cloud, there's a way. Today I'm excited to announce that Cisco and AWS have partnered to build deep integrations between Cisco's SD-WAN solutions and the newly launched service, AWS Cloud WAN, that provide secure access to workloads across the AWS cloud, with simplified management, on-demand deployment, and optimized performance, anywhere in the world.  This powerful integration will streamline operations for mutual AWS and Cisco SD-WAN (Viptela and Meraki) customers with multi-region deployments.

AWS has been working closely with Cisco to automate the ability for customers to deploy global networks with AWS Cloud WAN. AWS Cloud WAN provides Cisco SD-WAN customers the on-demand, high quality AWS backbone as an option for creating and managing their connections between branches worldwide -which simplifies cross-continental global connectivity. With the integration of Cisco SD-WAN solutions with AWS Cloud WAN, customers can now easily and securely interconnect their on-premises locations and AWS workloads by leveraging the world's largest global cloud infrastructure footprint.
-Thomas Spendley, Director, Software Development, AWS

The Cisco SD-WAN integration with AWS Cloud WAN offers enterprise customers the following benefits:

• On-demand global network-Deliver secure site-to-site connectivity through Cisco SD-WAN with AWS global backbone as underlay that is highly reliable and cost effective. Automate a global cloud network and reduce deployment from weeks to hours.
• End-to-end automation -Automate and simplify the provisioning process through your choice of platform, whether Cisco vManage or Cisco Meraki, for a simplified network design. Define a multi-region, segmented, dynamically routed network with an intent-driven policy in just a few clicks.
• Flexible consumption -Adopt an on-demand and pay-as-you-go consumption model for your backbone services and ensure that no end user goes unconnected.

As SD-WAN enabled enterprise networks start to provide pervasive WAN interconnects across public and private clouds, the need for secure, automated multi-cloud network access will become table stakes. The integration of Cisco SD-WAN solutions with AWS Cloud WAN is a prime example of how optimized network solutions will evolve to deliver reliable, cost-effective, site-to-site and site-to-cloud connectivity, significantly reducing network deployment from weeks to hours.
-Rohit Mehra, Group VP, Network and Telecom Infrastructure, IDC

Hybrid work can be complicated, but the network that enables it doesn't need to be. Cisco and AWS are committed to building innovative technologies to help businesses cut operating expenses while increasing productivity and keeping their workforces connected and secure.

Next Steps

Read:Streamlining Connectivity for a Multi-Region Hybrid World

Visit Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp to learn how Cisco is connecting the hybrid cloud with AWS

Get started with Cisco Meraki Cloud Managed Network Security & SD?WAN

Cisco SD-WAN: Driving Network Efficiency and Accelerating Cloud Integration with AWS Cloud WAN