{"id":9994,"date":"2018-09-25T12:13:06","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T19:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/?p=9994"},"modified":"2018-09-25T12:13:06","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T19:13:06","slug":"the-best-sd-wan-vendor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/the-best-sd-wan-vendor\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best SD-WAN Vendor"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love to surf. I\u2019m far from an expert surfer but it\u2019s a pastime I really enjoy. Luckily, my 4 kids are now old enough that my wife and I are finally<\/em> getting a little more time to enjoy our personal pastimes, than back in our kids\u2019 \u201cdiaper days.\u201d [whew]\n

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 \u201cTrails.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Surfer\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Question: How did I know where to surf? Answer: I knew which questions to ask myself.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I got it right and had one of the best surf sessions in recent memory. I was all smiles.<\/p>\n

So, what does this have to do with SD-WAN<\/a><\/span>?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re researching SD-WAN for your company, you probably feel like you\u2019re 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\u2026 but you don\u2019t know which questions to ask.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been in your shoes, with SD-WAN. Dozens of times. I\u2019m a broker for business ISP\u2019s and, as this SD-WAN craze has emerged, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s taken a ton of work to figure this out. I\u2019ve spent dozens of hours on the phone and on product demos, learning about over 100 SD-WAN vendors\u2026 and this is what I\u2019ve learned.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Application Peering<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some \u201ccloud-enabled\u201d 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 \u201cfast lane\u201d to these applications.<\/p>\n

The specific cloud apps your company is using and your perception of their current performance (without a \u201cfast lane), will determine if application peering is important for your company.<\/p>\n

Architecture<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Your company\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"SD-WAN<\/a><\/p>\n

Features<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which SD-WAN features are essential for your company? Such as:<\/p>\n