Over the past several years, software-defined networking in a wide area network (SD-WAN) has emerged as a key solution for federal agencies that improves end-user services, complements existing infrastructure, and provides end-to-end security. In addition, it meets both FISMA and FedRAMP guidelines, which helps agencies to optimize IT more securely.These were the key themes of the Government Technology Insider “SD-WAN: Improving the User Experience” podcast interview, where Bill Ambrose, Product Manager, supporting SDN and Virtual Services, at Verizon, discussed the challenges and opportunities for federal agencies moving into this arena.