See “one-click” software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN. See SD-WAN operators try to secure the network. See SD-WAN morph into a bunch of new vendors, parts, and even more personnel to manage them — all at a cost. It’s a high premium to pay for a necessity like security. Is there an easier way to do this?

A number of SD-WAN vendors loudly tout the simplicity of their offerings, according to Stefan Keller (pictured), chief technology officer of Open Systems AG. They neglect to mention that users must fill in the security blank — and the extra money, too.

“[Vendors are] very strong with SD-WAN capabilities, but in order to provide security functionality, they start to partner — be it with a firewall vendor, with a proxy vendor, and so on,” Keller said. “All of a sudden, you have four, five, or even six such partners you have to deal with.”

This amounts to a heap of new components to be pieced together. If common programming languages and logic are lacking, the result could turn “one-click” SD-WAN into a thousand-headed beast.

Keller spoke with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Open Systems “The Future Is Crystal Clear With Security and SD-WAN” event in Las Vegas. They discussed secure SD-WAN as a service versus piecemeal solutions. (* Disclosure below.)

SD-WAN — bare naked or dressed and accessorized?

A managed service provider like Open Systems does not simply drop naked SD-WAN in a user’s lap. It flexibly folds newly available, state-of-the-art security technology into its product on the customers’ behalf, Keller explained.

“If you look at today’s customers, if they want to do it on their own, they might have to deal with 30, 40 different kind of vendors and components and put it together,” he said. Open Systems provides a common language and consistent logic across all those parts. This makes operating a secure SD-WAN much simpler for customers, Keller concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Open Systems “The Future Is Crystal Clear With Security and SD-WAN” event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Open Systems “The Future Is Crystal Clear With Security and SD-WAN” event. Neither Open Systems AG, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE