Distributed enterprises are finding that legacy WAN technologies are creating pain points in the digital era, prompting the need for a new WAN paradigm. Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) has emerged as an architecture that improves visibility and optimization among common WAN connectivity protocols, while promising reduced costs, improved performance, and enhanced security and control over applications traversing the network. This IDC White Paper examines how SD-WAN adapts to the needs of enterprise IT, optimizing application delivery for the branch and enabling distributed enterprises to succeed with digital transformation initiatives.