The Best SD-WAN Vendor

I love to surf. I’m far from an expert surfer but it’s a pastime I really enjoy. Luckily, my 4 kids are now old enough that my wife and I are finally getting a little more time to enjoy our personal pastimes, than back in our kids’ “diaper days.” [whew]

So, the other day, I had a window of opportunity to go surf. There are hundreds of places to surf in Southern California, but I decided to go to a surf spot in San Clemente, named “Trails.”

Question: How did I know where to surf? Answer: I knew which questions to ask myself.

Where can I find a surf report? What direction was the swell? What was the tide going to be like? How big was it breaking at each surf spot? Which board should I bring? What is my ability level? etc. etc.

I got it right and had one of the best surf sessions in recent memory. I was all smiles.

So, what does this have to do with SD-WAN?

If you’re researching SD-WAN for your company, you probably feel like you’re contemplating going surfing and looking at a list of hundreds surf spots, overwhelmed by the options. You know some are probably horrible for you, and some are fantastic… but you don’t know which questions to ask.

I’ve been in your shoes, with SD-WAN. Dozens of times. I’m a broker for business ISP’s and, as this SD-WAN craze has emerged, it’s been my job to understand all the vendors in the SD-WAN landscape, where they differ, and under which circumstances these differences become benefits or detriments to a business.

It’s taken a ton of work to figure this out. I’ve spent dozens of hours on the phone and on product demos, learning about over 100 SD-WAN vendors… and this is what I’ve learned.

There are 7 main questions you want to ask yourself (about your company), when trying to determine the best SD-WAN vendor for your organization. These questions are (in alphabetical order): Application Peering, Architecture, Features, Pricing Structure, Security, Service Area, and Solution Manufacturer. Let me briefly explain each.

Application Peering

Some “cloud-enabled” SD-WAN vendors have direct peering arrangements with certain cloud apps (i.e. AWS, Salesforce, Dynamics, Office 365, Google, SugarCRM, etc.), giving your traffic a “fast lane” to these applications.

The specific cloud apps your company is using and your perception of their current performance (without a “fast lane), will determine if application peering is important for your company.

Architecture

In my opinion, there are 3 primary types of SD-WAN architecture: 1) On-Prem-Only; 2) Cloud-Enabled; and 3) Cloud-Enabled, connected by a private backbone.

Your company’s number of sites and the number of apps you are running in the cloud, vs. on-prem, will determine which architecture is best for your organization.

Features

Which SD-WAN features are essential for your company? Such as:

• Admin changes made in the cloud vs. on-site.
• VoIP session reassignment
• Professional (on-site) install vs. plug-n-play install
• Site-to-Site IPsec VPN tunnel management
• Load Balancing: outbound, inbound or both?
• Monitoring: General Circuit Monitoring, General App Monitoring, or MAC address granularity?
• Do private WAN circuits need to be integrated into your company’s SD-WAN solution?
• Public IP addresses provided by SD-WAN vendor?
• Traffic Shaping: inbound, outbound, site-to-site, or all of the above?

Pricing Structure

Does your company strongly prefer a CAPEX or OPEX pricing structure for SD-WAN?

Security

Many SD-WAN solutions include a built-in, “basic” firewall but some offer a robust, UTM firewall… yet others do not offer a built-in firewall at all, and instead, work very well with existing firewalls. Which is the best fit for your company’s security needs?

Service Area

If your company is selecting an on-prem SD-WAN solution, does the vendor service your geographic area?

If your company is selecting a cloud-enabled SD-WAN solution, do they service your area (which means they have a cloud gateway or Point of Presence (a.k.a. “POP”), in your geographic area)?

Solution Manufacturer

Many SD-WAN vendor’s solution is actually a white-labeled version of another vendor, while some solutions are built, in-house. Does your company have an affinity for VeloCloud? How about Meraki, Silver Peak, Versa, Aryaka, or Bigleaf?

Now, you have the questions. So, all that’s left is to find your company’s answers for each of these! LOL

Once you have the answers, you can hustle right over to our SD-WAN provider-finder tool, and search for SD-WAN vendors who meet your company’s criteria.

Feel free to email me with your questions! I love to help.

If you found this article useful, as a token of appreciation, please allow me to give you some recommendations and send you quotes on the top 3 SD-WAN vendors for your company. It’s free, and I assure you we’ll impress you with our professionalism, expertise and suggestions. Please click the button below.
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About the Author
Mike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been helping companies with telecom and cloud services since 1999. He has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the top 40 business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Follow Mike on LinkedIn, Twitter or SpiceWorks.