Do you want to move from MPLS to SD-WAN successfully? How do you devise and perform a successful SD-WAN migration plan? You can achieve a successful migration by employing a managed SD-WAN solution through a managed service provider (MSP). Let’s explore your migration options and how to make them work for your business.
What Are Your SD-WAN Migration Options?
As you make this big transition, you need to determine how to setup SD-WAN in a way that fits your business and network operations. You have three main options for your migration.
You could choose the most basic migration option, stepping out. With this option, you determine which remote sites are most critical to your business operations, and then you migrate them to SD-WAN technology in reverse priority order. Migrate less important sites first, so your technicians and engineering can work out any problems as they switch from MPLS circuits and connections to SD-WAN software. By the time they begin migrating the most critical sites, they’ll have resolved those problems and found ways around them so the critical migrations go more smoothly.
If your migration needs are more complex, however, you should consider the following migration options:
The Augmentation Option
When you select this option, you’re choosing to run your SD-WAN solution on both public and private networks. This solution is similar to a hybrid cloud solution, where you run a public cloud service and a private cloud network in parallel environments. Choosing this option reduces your SD-WAN costs while also improving application performance by allowing links to connect to each other quickly.
The Rip and Replace Option
In this migration option, you take out your MPLS circuits and replace them with broadband connections hooked to your SD-WAN software solution. MPLS connections are often expensive to maintain, so you can reduce your IT and telecom budgets by removing them completely and replacing them with cheaper connections.
You could choose the most basic migration option, stepping out. With this option, you determine which remote sites are most critical to your business operations, and then you migrate them to SD-WAN technology in reverse priority order. Migrate less important sites first, so your technicians and engineers can work out any problems as they switch from MPLS circuits and connections to SD-WAN software.
Why Should You Use an MSP to Migrate to SD-WAN?
When you migrate to SD-WAN (software defined wide area networking), you’re switching from using MPLS lines and hardware to connect your network’s different branches and sites to connecting them solely through software. You’ll have to purchase software from a vendor in order to migrate to an SD-WAN solution. If you go directly to the vendor, they may sell you a solution that meets their sales quotas, not the solution that best fits your network and your business infrastructure.
MSPs that offer SD-WAN solutions often act as vendor-neutral liaisons between businesses and SD-WAN vendors. Your MSP works on your behalf to find the right cost-effective solution for your network performance and internet connections. This way, you have a liaison that keeps your interests in mind and can negotiate contracts for you that let you reap SD-WAN’s benefits without breaking your IT and telecom budgets.
Start Your SD-WAN Migration With CTMS
If you’re ready to migrate to SD-WAN software solutions and need help figuring out which one is right for your business, reach out to CTMS today. We can help you select the right solution and figure out how to install SD-WAN in your network with our managed SD-WAN services. We understand that installing new connections, creating an SD-WAN interface, and all other migration steps are a lot to handle. That’s why we want to support you during every step of the migration process. We can ensure you experience a smooth transition so you can begin reaping SD-WAN’s benefits and improving how quickly your remote sites communicate with each other.
If you need more information on the migration process, contact us today. We use our expertise to help our clients connect more efficiently to their data centers and other remote sites.
