How to make sure your managed SD-WAN measures up

SD-WAN has become a powerful application for amplifying the performance, flexibility and security of wide area networks, with a majority of IT professionals opting for managed or co-managed SD-WAN solutions.

A Frost & Sullivan report shares insights from 350 IT decision makers on the benefits of SD-WAN and how to pick the right provider.

Top benefits of SD-WAN

IT decision makers choose SD-WAN for:

0%

24/7 resiliency and business continuity

0%

Superior WAN and application performance

0%

End-to-end network and application visibility

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Granular security policy enforcement

SD-WAN provides centralized visibility and management of application performance using software to control diverse underlying network infrastructure.

SD-WAN adoption

Don't currently intend to deploy

Will deploy within 12-24 months

Have a deployment underway

Have deployed

79% of IT decision makers are planning to deploy or have started to deploy SD-WAN solutions.

Managed versus DIY

75% of businesses say their future SD-WAN deployments will be either co-managed or fully managed SD-WAN services.

Fully managed

Co-managed

Do-it-yourself

The percentage of managed SD-WAN deployments planned is even higher among the largest businesses.

0%

of companies with over 500 sites plan to engage with a managed SD-WAN provider

Why managed matters

Top reasons IT decision makers choose managed SD-WAN solutions:

1

say managed SD-WAN providers aggregate and manage multiple network providers

2

say managed providers troubleshoot and restore services faster than internal teams

3

say managed providers simplify vendor management while unifying billing and portal capabilities, acting as a single point of contact

4

say managed providers offer an SLA for SD-WAN service

5

say managed providers deliver unified management of all network services—access, data, voice and security

6

say flexibility to buy and pay for service through a subscription billing model

7

say managed providers have already vetted the SD-WAN vendors making the decision process shorter

Measuring up managed SD-WAN partner

The right partner can mean the difference between an SD-WAN deployment that accelerates innovation and competitive advantage, and one that's inconsequential. Here are the top considerations for choosing a managed SD-WAN provider:

Custom solutions

Understands that each enterprise has unique network needs

Builds and deploys

Deep experience building networks and deploying managed network services

SD-WAN expertise

Experience deploying SD-WAN and the ability to anticipate and mitigate risks

Vendor compatibility

Access and vendor-agnostic solutions

Unified network

A global network, owned and operated by the provider

Hybrid network options

Support for private and public connectivity, for both vendors and customers

Routing expertise

Traffic steering, network management, deep peering and cloud connections know-how

Management flexibility

Options for managed or co-managed, allowing customers to choose the best option

Additional support

Full complement of professional services and support

Moving to managed SD-WAN: Top questions to ask yourself

For most businesses, a managed solution represents the fastest, most efficient and most cost-effective way to derive maximum value from SD-WAN. Is a managed SD-WAN right for you? Consider the following:

Planning and selection

Do you have sufficient expertise and available resources on-staff to build the roadmap, research vendors, and make a selection?

Deployment and management

Do you have sufficient expertise and resources on-staff to deploy and manage SD-WAN across all sites?

CapEx or OpEx?

Is your company willing to invest capital in on-site equipment, or do you prefer more flexible subscription-based operating expenditures?

Committing to uptime

Are you prepared to provide an SLA for site deployments or availability to your internal clients (e.g., branch managers, application owners)?

Learn more about managed SD-WAN from Lumen

Read the full report from Frost & Sullivan now.

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