There’s little doubt SD networking can attack many of the issues that might be created by a bring your own access option, but in the meantime, both providers and enterprises are suddenly faced with an increasing number and assortment of connections they now must fully rely upon. In many cases, it’s one MPLS link being replaced by two internet lines compounded over and over again across multiples of locations. The challenge only grows larger as WANs continue to grow more dispersed and remote work enabled. And one has to wonder how long “good enough” is really good enough when a diverse, dispersed, agile network is mission critical. No doubt enterprises will be looking for help managing this shift in connectivity, with emphasis moving toward overlay services that pull together and protect WANs whatever the choice in local underlay access. SD-WAN providers, as they incorporate more solutions and integrate capabilities into their platforms, certainly will play a key role here. “The large percentage of unmanaged internet connectivity paves a path forward for managed offerings delivering more predictable application performance,” said Aryaka executives. For providers, the growing use of internet services for WAN transport has led to a reevaluation of their internet service offerings, said Gartner, as well as the extent they partner to peer with local ISPs for greater geographic reach and differentiation. The research firm also expects more reliance on broadband aggregators, federations of ISPs that offer controlled routing among their members, and enhanced internet services that control routing in a way that is agnostic to ISPs and specific SD-WAN technology. “Traditional MPLS network operations centers are known for their focus and troubleshooting ability, providing end-to-end management of both the WAN edge and circuit,” said Gartner, in its most recent Magic Quadrant for network services. “Generally, ISPs aren’t as focused, which means the onus is on the vendor to troubleshoot and manage connectivity issues. Depending on an IT team’s management choice – adopting DIY SD-WAN versus managed SD-WAN – it is essential for them to understand how prospective vendors will provide a service-level agreement to monitor and troubleshoot connectivity.” Certainly, the forces pushing the transformations of WANs from private to public underlay services remain present and powerful. “Enterprises remain challenged to design and operate their networks to support dynamic requirements, including changing working practices, accelerated digital and cloud transformations, and rapidly changing business environments,” said Gartner analysts. “As a result, they increasingly see the value of improving the agility of their enterprise networks, both in terms of new technologies and new sourcing approaches.” Already, SD-WAN is the default offering for new network deployments and major refreshes, said Gartner, which expects 70 percent of enterprises to have implemented SD-WAN by 2026, up from approximately 45 percent in 2021. “New global network proposals are almost exclusively based on managed SD-WAN services with either a hybrid mix on MPLS and internet or all-internet-based underlay links,” the research firm continued. It would seem to suggest a boom in “second-line” Internet access for small to mid-sized enteprises, as the assumption with SD-WAN is that one private line can be replaced by two presumably more flexible, more dispersed and ideally less expensive public lines – without risking dips in performance. So, each location that was once served by one private line now requires at least two internet lines (excluding the emerging cases of single-line SD-WAN). For the customer, any extra effort to adopt and manage two lines is rewarded with a savings in recurring cost. For WAN providers, it can mean providing twice as many internet lines for presumably less money than they made on one MPLS link. It won’t be easy. o Change In Bandwidth Distributions (2018-2022) Source: TeleGeography 2023 VENTS: 3,098,946 RE CRITICAL ALERTS: 8.43% <1 to 4 Mbps 5 to 10 Mbps 11 to 50 Mbps 51 to 100 Mbps 101 to 500 Mbps 501 to 999 Mbps >1,000 Mbps 10% 5% -0% -5% -10% -15% -20% Difference in Average Percentage of Sites (2018-22) MPLS DIA Broadband 40 CHANNELV ISION | MARCH - APRIL 2023
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