to go with SD-WAN. Those utilizing intensive or expensive applications or who have specific licensing requirements, such as people working in CAD design remotely, for example, represent situations where the investment in SD-WAN can be justified. Much the same can be said for those in higherlevel or mission-critical roles such as engineers, developers, lawyers, or C-suite occupants that are largely working from home. On the other hand, employees who live in the world of PowerPoint, email clients, Excel and Word, said Fruehe, can run those applications at home rather inexpensively and can be adequately served by a VPN connection. But as the price points for SD-WAN premises equipment drop below $1,000, it starts to make sense to look at home-based marketing and HR managers or folks working in finance to see if the improvements wrought by SD-WAN in user experience, connectivity, and security can be justified. Ben Niernberg, executive vice president at MNJ Technologies, a managed service provider with experience providing SD-WAN solutions to clients, believes this time will come sooner than later. Many OEMs in the space have been working on “branch of one” solutions, he said, and Nierenberg has already seen devices that combine security with some level of routing and switching, if not full SD-WAN capabilities, all for around the same price of setting up a remote office with a nice laptop or a PC and monitor. “If you get your connectivity and security all in a box, where you can protect the company, I think that changes the financial posture of what is and what isn’t acceptable,” said Niernberg, speaking as part of a podcast on SD-WAN and WFH by Frankly MSP. And even if the cost to connect the at-home workers goes up slightly, “there is probably some savings on the backside, whether it be through real estate or through trying to enable an entire office,” he continued. “I’m not sure that it doesn’t become widespread yet; I think that is where we are: trying to learn what is that threshold where it makes both financial and business sense.” SD-WAN to the “branch of one” only make sense if remote work is clearly part of organizations long-term plans and culture. If the idea is that eventually everyone is coming back to the office, even if that is a year or two down the road, advised Fruehe, “you are probably not willing to go down the path of putting all the infrastructure in place.” Even if a company already is committed to SD-WAN in some capacity in its wide area network, the decision to push it down to home-based workers should be made separately. But if cost and cultural factors align, “SD-WAN makes a lot of sense,” Fruehe continued. Niernberg suggests on organization starts with an understanding of the key applications or problems it is trying to solve and then consider the possible appliances and solutions that might be able to help. “Not all SD-WAN is created equal,” he warned. “An [MSP or SD-WAN channel partner] that knows not just one SD-WAN product but multiple SD-WAN products can help you find the right solution and not just the solution they sell.” J SD-WAN Desired Features Cloud and SaaS connectivity 35% WAN optimization acceleration capabilities 32% Advanced security features SASE 32% Support for remote and mobile employees 32% Better alignment with cloud tech operational models 30% Private connectivity that can replace MPLS 28% Fully managed service 28% NFV at branch to replace appliances 26% Source: Aryaka Networks 2021 survey Source: TechTarget 16 THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK
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