With so many options available for SD-WAN, how can you be sure that your IT provider is skilled enough to offer the solution that is ultimately best suited to you?

Most SD-WAN solutions are provided to end customers by Telcos, managed service providers or IT consultancies / resellers. With so many SD-WAN options available to the IT Channel, you need to be sure that your IT partner is suitably qualified and is following the SD-WAN industry guidelines to ensure you get the most benefit from your SD-WAN network.

Commsbusiness, a publication aimed specifically at the UK IT provider channel ran an article in Feb 2019 titled “Catching The SD-WAN wave”. In the article, SD-WAN experts advise the Channel on best practise to correctly manage an SD-WAN opportunity as many IT partners do not yet have the required skillset. You can read the article here: http://journal-download.co.uk/digitalmagazines/cbus/cbus01feb2019/page_25.html Arming yourself with the knowledge of what your IT provider should be doing will help you decide if your IT provider is best placed to advise on or even install and manage your new network, or indicate to you that you should consider an SD-WAN expert. 

But before we start – what defines a “true” SD-WAN and is your IT provider skilled enough to offer the solution that is ultimately best suited to you?

There’s a tendency in the market to slap an SD-WAN label on almost every network related product. You can only get the full benefit that SD-WAN provides by choosing a true SD-WAN solution. The Metro Ethernet Foundation (MEF) will soon publish guidelines as to what qualifies as SD-WAN. Their guidelines will be similar to this:

For a solution to be considered SD-WAN, it must be a secure, IP based, transport independent overlay network, with application driven and policy based dynamic packet forwarding within service assured high availability tunnels across multiple WANS and with service automation via centralised management, control and orchestration, plus might also offer WAN optimisation.

You should expect your IT provider to be skilled and knowledgeable in general SD-WAN technology, experienced in solution design and be able to advise on more than one specific vendor product. 

At SDWAN Solutions we have developed an SD-WAN functionality scoring system that allows us to independently rate available SD-WAN technologies. An SD-WAN solution needs to score over 85% for us to consider it a true SD-WAN solution. We only supply solutions based on true SD-WAN technology.

1. Has the SD-WAN solution been designed bespoke for you, to satisfy your unique requirements?

There is no such thing as an off-the-shelf SD-WAN solution. Complete SD-WAN solutions are designed using 4 main components – SD-WAN software, SD-WAN hardware or virtual environment, the underlying connectivity and additional services i.e. ongoing management.

Your IT partner needs to involve you in a detailed consultative scoping exercise where your exact network requirements are tabled, your existing infrastructure, cloud strategy, timescales, budget, etc must all be discussed. Only with a complete understanding of your network can an SD-WAN vendor be proposed and the solution design begin.

End customers must be wary of IT partners who propose SD-WAN before any consultation has taken place. Customers must also be mindful of considering a solution due to historic vendor kit already deployed. This may not be your best choice technically or commercially.

2. Is the proposed SD-WAN vendor technology really the best fit for you?

Even when it comes to the true SD-WAN providers, every SD-WAN vendor technology differs slightly – each has it’s own unique strengths and weaknesses. Some SD-WAN’s are better suited to uCaas requirements, while others are more suited to cloud application performance or are better suited to specific verticals like retail or banking. 

Many Telcos and IT providers offer only 1 SD-WAN vendor solution and as such the offered solution may not be the best fit for your environment. Customers need to be aware of the various options available, but may not have the time to invest in investigating many different suppliers – At SDWAN Solutions, we’ve done the hard work for you, we’ve tested the vendors to their limits and can be trusted to recommend the best SD-WAN solution to you.

3. Have you agreed the best network design: hybrid or complete SD-WAN?

SD-WAN networks are most commonly installed as non-intrusive network overlays – customers continue to use some or all of their existing network infrastructure and can immediately benefit from SD-WAN technology. Some customers choose to retain MPLS circuits and boost service with internet access circuits shaped by SD-WAN, others replace MPLS with internet only circuits when expensive contracts expire. SD-WAN is extremely flexible and solutions must be designed using all available technologies to achieve the desired technical and commercial results. 

At SDWAN solutions we continually monitor advances in available technologies and can replace older technologies to ensure your network is always as advanced as it can be.

4. Are you considering an in-house managed SD-WAN or a fully managed solution?

Experienced solution designers (like SDWAN Solutions) have access to countless connectivity and technology providers and as such can design an SD-WAN network with the highest possible availability and resilience regardless of the site location. Being able to cherry pick the best connectivity vendors for a solution is a definite advantage over Telcos who only use their own network or IT partners with only 1 connectivity supplier. SDWAN Solutions works with 1000’s of telecoms providers globally so you can be sure that our solutions are designed to more than meet your needs. Plus, installations are project managed for you, making sure circuits are delivered on time. All connectivity supplied in our solutions is fully managed by the SDWAN Solutions team – every vendor, every connection and every piece of hardware. 

Most SD-WAN vendors market their solution as Zero Touch Deployment (ZTD). The reality is that a considerable amount of work needs to be done before any solution is truly zero touch. You should consider using experienced experts to help plan the roll-out once a solution has been chosen. Most of the SD-WAN experts have a large “Lessons Learned” book and making use of their experience can save you a considerable amount of time and money.

At SDWAN Solutions we have found that our customers prefer a joint managed solution – the customer has full visibility and access to the SD-WAN control portal and is able to make changes knowing that SDWAN Solutions support is there to help when needed. Every SDWAN Solutions customer receives full vendor training as part of their solution.

5. Have you been offered a free Proof of Concept trial?

Once you’ve worked with your IT provider to design the solution you can only be 100% confident that the solution will perform as spec’d if you run a live on-site Proof of Concept trial to see how the solution will perform in your own network. Your IT partner should offer a POC trial to you FOC.

There is no better way to prove the technology – At SDWAN Solutions we often ask to run the POC between your worst performing sites so that you can see the exact capabilities.

6. Summary: Here’s what you need to check!

SD-WAN is already mainstream – the early adapters phase is complete. SD-WAN is the most effective network technology available to ensure companies get the best performance from their cloud hosted applications. Customers are advised to check:
1.  their considered SD-WAN solution is a true SD-WAN solution
2.  the solution has been designed according to their exact requirements
3.  the SD-WAN vendor technology is the best fit for their requirements
4.  the solution roll-out has been planned and agreed
5.  levels of solution management are clear and defined
6.  a POC has been agreed to fully test the solution
7.  you are not tied into rigid connectivity contracts
8.  your IT provider can deliver all of the above, or has partnered with an SD-WAN expert who can.
9.  and finally check that each of the stages below (that you would normally receive as part of an SDWAN Solutions managed service), have been considered and ownership allocated:

Consult – Design – R&D Test – POC Trial – Project Manage – Install – Monitor – Re-Tech – Maintain – Support

As we say – It’s not so much SD-WAN but SD-When!

visit https://www.sdwan-solutions.co.uk for more information about all things SD-WAN

Anthony Senter

Anthony Senter

CEO, SDWAN Solutions

Anthony is the CEO and founder of SDWAN Solutions Ltd, and a director of SDWAN Solutions SRL. Anthony has over 22 years network industry experience gained from working for most of the global Tier 1 carriers. He was an early advocate of SDWAN technology and is one of the leading authorities in SD-WAN and one of only 12 SD-WAN Subject Matter Experts, globally

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