Points to Ponder • SD-WAN is showing rapid market uptake, meaning that many of your competitors may be taking advantage of its benefits. • If you’re doing UCaaS or CCaaS, office 365, salesforce.com, AWS, Azure, Google, or cybersecurity, SD-WAN may in effect be a necessary network upgrade. • Costs versus value: Bear in mind that some estimates for cost reduction associated with SD- WAN may be overstated. Your mileage may vary. However, the fundamental reason to explore SD-WAN is based on the network performance and the latency-sensitive applications that are enabled by it. • SD-WAN will not immediately displace MPLS across the broad market. But the continued use of MPLS should not delay trialing or even implementing SD-WAN along with it. • Many carriers are adopting SD-WAN, even though they can often make more money by selling MPLS. They do so out of recognition of the direction of the market plus their own need to evolve. • Firewalls and routers will potentially be displaced by multi-function SD-WAN boxes, meaning that your current infrastructure mix is likely to change over the course of time. Questions to ask when exploring SD-WAN • How do you expect your security posture to change with SD-WAN? • What are your current throughput requirements? • What are your most critical applications, and where are they hosted? • Are you considering hosting SD-WAN appliances in the cloud, and/or connecting via private circuits? • To what extent is your technical team familiar with SD WAN, and what level of assistance are they likely to require? • For more information on SD WAN, on the applications supported by SD WAN, or on any other technology issue, please consult your Trusted Advisor. • Do you prefer a do-it-yourself technology, installation support or fully managed support? Note that some options only come fully managed or require a third installation or management. 21 Copyright © 2019 AVANT Communications, Inc.