Migrate to the Cloud without Stumbling over Contracts (cont)

January 16, 2015 Aerocom

This is part 2 of the blog I wrote previously “How to Migrate to the Cloud without stumbling over My Contracts.”

A recent story…

I had a client call me a few months ago… he was the head of IT for a mid-size company and he said that their 1,000 seat phone system was dying (which he was giddy about), but they didn’t want to own or manage another PBX. Instead, his company wanted to purchase a hosted VoIP system for all of the same reasons why everyone and their sister wants hosted VoIP. He also said that they’d like to look into Desktop as a Service (DaaS), because they were looking at a desktop refresh and thought that might be an interesting alternative to explore.

I love these conversations the same way Sys Admins love Leia…. in Jabba’s Palace.

…then it got better. One of his requirements was that his company wouldn’t tolerate poor voice quality.

…hmmm. Not a problem. My next question: “Tell me about your current MPLS network…”

Then he crushed me.

“Oh, yeah, we just upgraded our MPLS contract a couple months ago and had fiber put at all of our sites.”

Can you guess the answer of whether or not their current MPLS provider offered a good hosted VoIP solution?

Stuck. Why?

To guarantee voice quality and latency levels for DaaS, he would need the hosted VoIP/DaaS provider to install an MPLS circuit at all sites.

In my previous post, I told you that one solution was to find a cloud provider that will let you install an MPLS node (from your current MPLS service provider), into the cloud service provider’s data center.

But what if you think that option stinks… because you don’t feel like paying for an additional circuit at your 3^rd party cloud providers’ data center? We all know that circuit has to be FAT considering it will be the hub site… which also means it will probably be a pricy circuit… which also means your boss is going to reject this project anyway…

Again… Not to fear my IT friends! I am going to tell you a second, craftier way to help you move to the cloud without breaking that contract.

What do you do (Part 2)?

Here is what I recommend:

Find a cloud provider that has a Network to Network Interface (NNI), agreement already in place with your MPLS provider.
Find a cloud provider that has a Network to Network Interface (NNI), agreement in place with your public Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Add SD-WAN to your network.

If you have an MPLS network and you do option #1, your cloud traffic will flow through your MPLS connection with full QoS, WITHOUT HAVING TO INSTALL A CIRCUIT WITH YOUR CLOUD PROVIDER!

If you choose option #2, your cloud traffic will probably not have guaranteed QoS BUT you will have minimal latency on your cloud traffic because it will stay on your current ISP’s backbone network (the entire time), and as a result, never hit the public Internet.

Not all service providers have NNI’s with cloud providers but it’s starting to happen more and more. Why? Because your MPLS and Internet providers don’t want to get the boot for a provider that does have an NNI.

If you choose option #3, like option #2, your cloud traffic will not have guaranteed QoS but you will have minimal latency on your cloud traffic because the SD-WAN network will protect it, for the majority of the data transmission.

So, you’re not stuck! There are some crafty maneuvers that can be done. You just have to know what to ask!

But why rack your brain trying to figure all of this out on your own? Click below and have an AeroCom expert give you provider recommendations for free!

About the Author
Mike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been immersed in the business telecom and cloud industry since 1999. He has been the recipient of numerous industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the top 40 business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Mike is passionate about simplifying the way IT buyers shop and select telecom and cloud solutions for their company. Follow Mike on LinkedIn, Twitter or SpiceWorks.