Value Propositions of SD-WAN

Overview

SD-WAN emerged as a game-changer in response to the need for increased WAN efficiency in the enterprise. SD-WAN continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the network infrastructure market. As per IDC this market is poised to reach $5.25 billion in 2023.

Overall, the main use case of the SD-WAN solution is to centrally manage WAN edge devices used for connecting enterprise network spread across different geographies. In addition, it establishes logical WAN connections with branches/head-offices/cloud/data center edge devices. As a result, these logical connections provide important benefits such as secure path, active/active WAN, Intelligent traffic steering, etc. 

Briefly, the value propositions of SD-WAN are into four key areas: 1) Optimal usage of Bandwidth 2) Expand Cloud usage 3) Enable mobility, and 4) Security. The following section captures the features and benefits offered by the SD-WAN solution for an enterprise.

Security

With SD-WAN it provides security across branch offices to the central sites using VPN overlay. First and foremost, it is important to understand what type of encryption and device authentication methods are in place when provisioning a new branch or location. and to conclude, on security, the SD-WAN solution makes it possible to create device configurations and associated securities in a centralized fashion and push them out across the WAN.

Dynamic traffic Engineering

Indeed, this topic is very close to the hearts of CIO’s and IT managers. Because it enables real-time traffic steering over the internet or MPLS link based on business intends. And if you look more closely the mission-critical application can be steered over to most stable, probably your MPLS link and the non-critical application to send over the internet link. In case of brownout or outage automatically fail-over to secondary connection seamlessly. To sum up ! it is the single most value propositions of SD-WAN in terms of reducing the WAN cost

Zero Touch provisioning

Furthermore, Let’s talk about zero-touch provisioning. It is basically the capability to offer zero-touch deployment at the branch site with minimal or no configuration changes. Hence, this helps you to reduce the cost of highly skilled engineers traveling to your remote sites.

Built-in Application Discovery

With built-in application discovery, the SD-WAN controller can provide a centralized application view of your entire WAN infrastructure. Additionally, it also allows you to make use of appropriate policies to control application traffic.

Programmability

Clearly, I am yet to see an SD-WAN vendor who does not offer programmability with their solution. This is one of the key value propositions of SD-WAN as it allows, customers to use the northbound APIs to develop customized applications.

Topology Options

Without a doubt, with SD-WAN you are no longer require to tie specific topologies.  Moreover, most of the vendors in this space offer topology options such as full Mesh, hub, and spoke, Partial Mesh, point to point, etc. However, it should be noted that even with all these you require to carefully and evaluate vendors and their techniques.

Interoperability

Importantly, beyond WAN networking; the SD-WAN controller can also do Layer 2 and 3 interoperability with existing router and switches. Consequently, it enables smooth migration of the traditional WAN.  For instance, there are few vendors also offering managing and deployment of campus switches, Wireless, and routers using the SD-WAN controller. As a result, it enables a single pane of glass visibility & configuration provisioning into your entire enterprise infrastructure

WAN Optimization

With more and more applications are moving to the cloud, WAN optimization techniques getting more business relevant. Subsequently, with SD-WAN it offers to connect enterprise office locations to the cloud. However, it should be noted that without ensuring good user performance, the cloud value proposition quickly deteriorates.

Along with SD-WAN, Cloud-based providers are offering on-premises solutions, and WAN Optimization as a Service becomes increasingly attractive. Interestingly the traditional WAN optimization players are moved to become SD-WAN providers as well.

Troubleshooting Tools

With the increasing WAN complexity, it is apparent that you need to have user-friendly tools to troubleshoot. For the most part, with the SD-WAN, the troubleshooting becomes centralized. , it also offers many graphical user interface based features to get visibility and allow you to troubleshoot.

Segmentation/Multi-Tenancy

Network segmentation is one of the many benefits of SD-WAN solutions in the market. First and foremost, by using capabilities such as creating a separate overlay you can separate networks based on traffic regulations, and compliance requirements such as HIPAA, PCI, etc. However, the scalability considerations around this need to take into account when talking to the vendors.

Support for Legacy WAN connectivity

The value propositions of SD-WAN is questioned when it interop with legacy systems. It is important to understand your company existing WAN network before finalizing any SD-WAN solution. Admittedly, some of them may not have existing products which full fill your legacy connectivity needs like T1/EI or DSL.

SaaS Optimization & Cloud Integration

With, good numbers of applications are moving to the cloud, in order to take advantage of the full benefits of SaaS, the enterprise WAN needs to be up for the task. Furthermore, accessing SaaS applications like SalesForce.com and Office 365 over congested public networks can be unreliable and slow. This could happen due to burst in traffic, packet loss, or provider issues. Importantly, application slowness results in a poor end-user experience which challenges the overall value of the solution.

In short, With SD-WAN you need to look at options such as optimization around sites connecting to the nearest SaaS provider data center rather than going through the headquarters site:

Ease of Management

Obviously, with SD-WAN all the devices are centrally managed from the controller. As a result, the operational aspects like firmware upgrade, inventory collection, and life cycle management can be automated significantly.

Hosting Options

The solution offering includes hosting the SD-WAN required components on a dedicated hardware platform, or virtualized environment or on the cloud-based infrastructure. Moreover, virtual Solutions are targeted for large enterprises that have virtualized many of their network functions

It should be noted, if the cloud is hosting the SD-WAN controller, then the cloud instance is where it implements the features of SD-WAN, it then communicates to the edge appliance via an orchestrator that keeps the cloud and edge components of the solution in sync.

Analytics

Analytics are used inherently for discovering application performance and path selection. As a result, it allows planning and building a new relationship in the network. Most of the solutions currently available in the market have analytics built into their SD-WAN controller or working integration with a third-party analytics tool.

Reporting

Indeed, most of the SD-WAN vendors offer a built-in reporting option. It provides specific details into an application, location, and network statistics. Reporting captures performance history, monitoring of loss, latency, and packet ordering for all network paths. furthermore, it should be noted that the application traffic is identified using name and location which results in easy and faster resolution of service provider issues

Deployment References

Most of the SD-WAN deployments are small or geographically contained to challenge their scalability. Most current deployments are less than 100 sites. Few vendors have their deployments scaling more than 1000 sites and are mainly within America’s region. However, offered solutions are adding huge benefits over legacy WAN.

Product Lines

SD-WAN architecture includes a centralized controller and edge devices. The vendors have a limited portfolio of devices and confined in their native capabilities. The products are offers usually include virtual or physical form factors.

Purchasing Options

Based on the type of solution offered such as virtual, physical, on-premises, or cloud-based, the purchasing options differ. Some of them offer upfront purchase or subscription-based licensing. And also feature-based licensing or mix of upfront with a subscription.

Conclusion

The value propositions of SD-WAN makes sense when your WAN is complex from a policy perspective. The decoupling of control information across the entire WAN plays a key role in this scenario. Centralizing control helps in instances such as when you need to identify, mark, and enforce QoS policies for specific application traffic or if you need to apply granular security controls across the entire WAN. In short, a centralized SD-WAN streamlines end-to-end policy enforcement and can pushed out to the entire WAN simultaneously.

It’s easy to see why SD-WAN technologies continue to be a hot topic. SD-WAN can help you when you struggle with increasing costs, management, or simply need a more flexible and scalable WAN. To get the best value out of SD-WAN finally, enterprises should seek an SD-WAN supplier that suits its procurement strategy, particularly the preference for a Capex or Opex based model