As enterprise IT becomes more distributed and data-intensive, Google’s Cloud WAN is emerging as a strategic solution to simplify wide area networking while enabling agility for AI, IoT and mission-critical apps.

The shift toward multicloud, AI-powered environments is driving demand for software-defined infrastructure that reduces complexity and improves operational efficiency globally. In response, Google has extended its planet-scale network to enterprise customers through Cloud WAN — a fully managed service that connects branch, campus, cloud and data center environments on a single backbone.

“Networking is fundamental to almost anything that a customer needs to do from a workload perspective,” said Muninder Sambi (pictured), vice president and general manager of networking and security, Google Cloud, at Google LLC.

I spoke with Sambi during the “Connect Your Global Enterprise With Cloud WAN: A Network Built for the AI Era” event, for an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. We discussed how Cloud WAN serves as a strategic enabler for AI-era networking and helps modernize legacy WAN infrastructure. (* Disclosure below.)

Cloud WAN simplifies global connectivity and performance

As enterprise workloads expand across multiple clouds and edge environments, Cloud WAN delivers a unified architecture that simplifies operations and accelerates performance. Customers such as Nestlé S.. and Citadel Securities LLC are early adopters using it to modernize core network infrastructure.

“Customers are now thinking of evolving or becoming cloud-native, AI-native enterprises,” Sambi said. “They’ve started to think about how do I connect my branches in a very simple, easy, have consistent security for all my users and employees as they connect to cloud and SaaS applications.”

The Cloud WAN solution enables enterprises to consolidate legacy WAN architectures, such as Multiprotocol Label Switching and fragmented SD-WAN stacks, into a globally managed backbone with built-in resilience and optimized routing.

“We have about 2 million-plus miles of fiber, 33 subsea cables that are Google-owned, and they span across the entire globe, operating and connecting almost 200-plus countries and territories,” Sambi noted.

Customers can use Cloud WAN to support data center interconnects, streamline branch connectivity and gain visibility through centralized orchestration. For Nestlé, replacing MPLS with internet-based connectivity on Google’s backbone delivered a 40% improvement in application performance and improved agility for supporting AI and IoT use cases.

Citadel Securities also highlighted the value of a performant hybrid WAN for low-latency, high-throughput applications spanning cloud and private infrastructure. These use cases reflect broader enterprise needs for faster data movement, reduced cost and better user experiences globally.

“It’s a fully reliable backbone, 99.99%. It also offers 40% lower TCO for our customers,” Sambi added. “Employee productivity, reliability is super, super important as part of having a global WAN infrastructure.”

By supporting leading SD-WAN and SASE vendors, Cloud WAN also protects existing investments and provides a clear path toward future-ready network security. Integration with Palo Alto Networks Inc., Broadcom Inc. and others enables enterprises to maintain consistent security policies while consolidating their infrastructure stack.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the “Connect Your Global Enterprise With Cloud WAN: A Network Built for the AI Era” event:

You can watch the full webinar here:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Connect Your Global Enterprise With Cloud WAN: A Network Built for the AI Era” event. Neither Google LLC, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE