Outages, Downtime, and High Costs? Here’s Why Multi-Location Enterprises Are Adopting Hybrid WAN in 2025

By Greg Davis, CEO of Bigleaf Networks

When the concept of “Hybrid WAN” initially popped up years ago, the immediate association for many was often Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) coupled with a broadband backup. This configuration represented the prevailing industry standard at the time, and for a period, effectively served its intended purpose. 

But much has changed in the technology landscape since then. Fast-forward to 2025, and Hybrid WAN is now about agile multi-path connectivity that leverages everything from fiber and DSL to LTE, 5G, and even satellite links.

The Evolution of Hybrid WAN: From MPLS to Multi-Path Connectivity

The very concept of Hybrid WAN often revolved around layering a private MPLS circuit with some form of broadband backup. It made sense in an era when operations were primarily hosted in on-prem data centers, and when cloud services were more of a novelty. Over time, however, as entire workforces became reliant on distributed and cloud-based solutions, the inherent limitations of MPLS began to surface. The cost of bandwidth was too high, deployment could be cumbersome, and scaling up or down quickly wasn’t straightforward.

I’ve seen how businesses have grown frustrated with paying for circuits that just can’t keep pace with modern workloads. This is why Hybrid WAN has evolved to blend any number of wired and wireless connections into a single intelligent network. Rather than being stuck with the constraints of one or two options, organizations can mix fiber, cable, DSL, and wireless technologies, letting software tools automatically optimize traffic flow in real time. This flexibility helps businesses scale while ensuring they can navigate network outages or sudden spikes in usage more gracefully than ever before.

Redundancy, Reliability, and Cost Efficiency Benefits

With so many businesses relying on cloud-based tools and remote collaboration, downtime is increasingly unacceptable. One of the most obvious advantages of a modern Hybrid WAN is redundancy. If the primary connection fails—or even just degrades—traffic can seamlessly shift to a healthier link. This built-in reliability makes a real difference for operations like retail, healthcare, and finance that can’t afford outages during mission-critical hours.

Another benefit is the intelligent way these networks now route traffic. Latency-sensitive tasks like video conferencing or VoIP calls can automatically be sent along more stable, lower-latency paths, while less critical data moves over secondary connections. Beyond preserving call quality and making sure virtual meetings run smoothly, this kind of routing prevents huge file transfers or software updates from disrupting everything else on the network.

It’s also true that operating a multi-path network can be more cost-effective in the long run. MPLS lines have traditionally been expensive, and high-bandwidth circuits can become a real burden on budgets. Leveraging more affordable broadband or wireless connections—while still preserving reliability—helps businesses meet performance needs without overpaying for capacity they might not always use.

Meeting the Demands of Modern Workplaces with Hybrid WAN

One of the most significant transformations I’ve noticed in recent years is how quickly organizations have shifted to remote and hybrid work environments. Employees need to access essential applications whether they’re in corporate headquarters, a home office, or a temporary project site. This heightened reliance on the internet is precisely why Hybrid WAN has become vital: it ensures employees always have a secure, high-quality connection to the resources they need, regardless of where they are physically located.

When an organization opens a new location, deploying traditional wired infrastructure might take weeks—sometimes months—depending on the region and service availability. With a Hybrid WAN strategy, you can spin up wireless circuits while waiting on fiber, or keep both once fiber is installed to maintain high levels of redundancy and performance. Hybrid WAN effectively handles these scenarios by instantly distributing traffic across diverse connections, eliminating bottlenecks, and reducing the risk of a single failure bringing everything down.

Thanks to these capabilities, modern workplaces experience far fewer disruptions, even during major events or unexpected network issues. This is particularly important for distributed teams, where a local outage in one location should never bring the entire company’s operations to a standstill. Hybrid WAN offers the kind of insurance policy businesses need to stay productive, serve customers, and keep momentum, no matter what local conditions might throw at them.

Trends to Watch in 2025 and Beyond

As I reflect on where Hybrid WAN is heading, there are a few trends I expect will define the next few years. One is the continued rise of 5G and the eventual transition to even faster, lower-latency wireless networks. These technologies will likely be integrated more seamlessly into Hybrid WAN solutions that offer more agility and coverage options than we thought in 2020. Businesses that once depended almost exclusively on wired connections might find themselves leaning into wireless for certain high-speed, mission-critical tasks.

Another major development is the growing role of artificial intelligence in traffic management. Already, I’m seeing solutions that use machine learning to detect usage patterns, predict possible outages, and reroute traffic automatically. This AI-driven optimization will only become more advanced and help network managers respond to demand spikes, security threats, and changing workloads without having to manually reconfigure anything.

I also believe edge computing will heavily influence how we design and deploy Hybrid WAN solutions. As more devices process data at the network edge, connectivity needs to be not just robust but also intelligent enough to direct information efficiently between local nodes and the cloud. This decentralization of data and processing power underscores the importance of having a network foundation that can adapt instantly to new traffic patterns, device locations, and application requirements.

Finally, the ongoing shift toward zero-trust security architectures will force organizations to reevaluate how each connection—wired or wireless—is validated and protected. Hybrid WAN architectures will need to weave security policies seamlessly into their routing intelligence, ensuring that all endpoints and data flows are continuously inspected and protected.

About The Author

Greg Davis is the CEO of Bigleaf Networks and has served on its board of directors since 2020. With more than 25 years of experience in technology leadership, Greg has a proven track record of scaling businesses and driving enterprise value through revenue growth, operational excellence, and strategic acquisitions. Throughout his career, he has successfully led multiple companies from start-up to over $100 million in annual revenue.

Before joining Bigleaf, Greg served as Chief Operating Officer at HungerRush, a national leader in hospitality software, where he played a critical role in business transformation and growth. Prior to that, he spent eight years as Executive Vice President of Sales at Alert Logic, leading sales, marketing, and other key areas of the business to drive significant revenue expansion.

Greg is recognized for his ability to build high-performing teams and implement strategies that optimize business operations. His leadership at Bigleaf Networks is focused on advancing network optimization solutions, ensuring businesses maintain seamless and reliable internet connectivity in an increasingly cloud-dependent world.