- Ciaran Roche
Key Takeaways
- Telco-independent SD-WAN offers greater flexibility, scalability, and control than traditional carrier-based networks.
- Modern network strategies must prioritize security, redundancy, and cloud readiness.
- Choosing the right SD-WAN delivery model requires aligning network and team capabilities with long-term business goals.
Explore different SD-WAN delivery models and network considerations
In the face of ongoing digital transformation and a fast-changing business landscape, today’s enterprises need agile, flexible, reliable, and highly secure networks to operate cost-effectively. To survive and thrive in the digital age, network considerations can be a determining factor in your enterprise’s viability.
In this article, we will be exploring Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) delivery models and network considerations, so you can choose the best-fit network solution for your business needs and get future-ready.
How do telco solutions differ from telco-independent ones?
As enterprises reassess their network strategies to better align with modern business demands, it’s important to distinguish between traditional telco-delivered WAN solutions and modern alternatives.
Telco-delivered Wide Area Networks (WAN) are typically built on extensive, legacy infrastructure with long-term, often inflexible agreements. On the one hand, with their established market presence and extensive long-term client portfolios, telcos are often perceived as the safer and easier choice. Yet, there are significant limitations to this model that can hold your enterprise back.
As telcos are so heavily tied to their existing infrastructure and operational models due to large investments, evolving their service offerings for the future. This often results in network solutions that place constraints on how enterprises design and use their networks, with limited scope for customization or flexibility to their clients’ changing business needs.
In contrast, telco-independent networks, delivered through Managed Service Providers (MSPs), allow for greater customizability and flexibility, while utilizing traditional carriers’ network underlays.
Telco vs telco-independent SD-WAN comparison
Feature | Telco-Delivered WAN | Telco-Independent SD-WAN |
Flexibility | Limited due to investments in legacy infrastructure and standardized offerings | Highly flexible, with customizations to meet specific business needs |
Vendor dependency | Locked into single carrier | Multi-carrier, enabling a selection of connectivity options best suited for your enterprise
|
Scalability | Slow due to operational and contractual constraints | Agile to meet changing business requirements and growth
|
Cost structure | Often fixed, long-term contracts | More adaptable CAPEX and OPEX models |
Network performance | Dependent on the carrier’s network infrastructure | Optimizes traffic across multiple selected carriers to improve reliability and user experience |
Why are some enterprises unsure about moving away from traditional carriers?
Despite the benefits of the telco-independent approach, some enterprises are still hesitant to transition away from traditional telco-delivered solutions. The reasons vary and may include unfamiliarity with alternative options available, difficulty in managing contracts that expire at different times, or being wary of new technology and innovation.
In the last 10 years, the networking space has seen several new technologies and frameworks arise, including SD-WAN, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), cloud, and multi-cloud networking. SD-WAN first emerged in 2014 but gathered steam during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now emerging as a leading technology platform of choice for global enterprises. SD-WAN makes for a compelling business case; especially given increasing traffic with the cloud and data analytics, as well as widespread adoption of hybrid and remote work models.
Things to consider when reinventing your network
The burning question is: how can business leaders find the best-fit network solution for their organizations to get future-ready for further disruption – especially with the rise of AI? Below, we share five important tips to help you reinvent your network infrastructure and remain competitive.
Keep the big picture in mind
For all agreements and contracts, enterprises need to balance resources and costs against the necessary network architecture, infrastructure, and capabilities. It’s important to think about the broader business landscape and industry you operate in. Does architecture allow for scalability? Do the network capabilities align with your future business direction and goals?
Additionally, a good SD-WAN provider must be able to establish a high-level comparison of the network’s CAPEX and OPEX costs, so you can make an informed and educated decision.
Review the existing WAN environment
The enterprise must analyze key traffic flow to develop potential migration strategies. The exact network architecture design will vary depending on business requirements and gaps between the current and required network capabilities. The environment migration strategy should take this into account.
Remember to build your solution with the future in mind. IT leaders must enable their network and security teams to create a sustainable network infrastructure that can support smooth business operations today but enable the enterprise to grow and evolve for tomorrow.
Determine what features may be needed
Where does your enterprise need network coverage currently and in the future? You need to consider this question before building your network, as it will influence how and why you go about doing it.
For example, if your business has global requirements, the network must be able to support the coverage expansion your business will require in the future. What is the network going to be used for?
As varying business applications have different bandwidth requirements, monitor your enterprise data needs to ensure your network can handle these requirements effectively. For instance, cloud services running business-critical applications will require more bandwidth than locally hosted files.
The next step is to identify any other specific features that may be required to meet your business needs and determine how many people are using the network. Does your network need to serve only internal employees and staff, or external partners as well?
By identifying specific network features, business leaders can create clear expectations around network requirements and capabilities that are “non-negotiable” going forward.
Ensure strong network security
Given that hybrid and remote work models have been integrated into the work environment in most savvy organizations, network security and secure interconnectivity are table stakes now for enterprises. Modern enterprises must ensure consistent security protocols irrespective of where the end-user is located while adhering to security regulations for the regions they are operating in.
Ultimately, the MSP and the network must continuously evolve, deploying the latest tools, technologies, and best practices to keep ahead of cybercriminals and be able to deal with any red flags proactively rather than reactively.
Ascertain network redundancy
How critical is this network to your operations? If it is truly mission-critical – as is often the case – then your enterprise network architecture must be able to sustain and self-heal through the failure of an individual switch, link or access point. You will need to strategize and budget for increased costs, building such redundancies into your IT infrastructure.
Additionally, going behind the network architecture, a good MSP will have different flavors of management so that you can choose a level of support suitable for your unique needs.
What’s next in the move to telco independence?
Your enterprise network needs are unique to your context, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. For forward-thinking enterprises, the flexibility and customizability of the telco-independent approach are very attractive. It’s imperative to understand network considerations and delivery models so you can choose the best-fit solution for your business.
Should you decide to transition to a telco-independent network, the best transition entails gradually decreasing your dependence on a single carrier and leveraging telco-independent SD-WAN to make your network telco-agnostic. It is important to first prepare your enterprise’s internal operations and expectations for the upcoming transformation.
You may want to set out a clear structure to map responsibilities in the new network operating model, as well as best practice guidelines. Also, expect a collaborative onboarding and client training process to help ensure your partnership with the MSP of your choice is easy, smooth, and productive for everyone.
If you’re planning to move away from traditional carriers and toward an MSP that can deliver telco-independent solutions to support your business growth and needs, schedule a chat with our team today. Our team of experts at Coevolve can help you leverage the best-fit options for your modern enterprise.
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FAQs
What is the difference between telco-delivered and telco-independent SD-WAN?
Telco-delivered SD-WAN is typically tied to a single carrier’s infrastructure and contracts, limiting flexibility. Telco-independent SD-WAN allows enterprises to use multiple connectivity types from different providers, offering greater customization, performance optimization, and scalability.
Why are enterprises moving toward telco-independent networks?
Enterprises are shifting to telco-independent models to gain more flexibility, avoid vendor lock-in, improve network performance, and better support cloud, AI, and hybrid work environments.
What should businesses consider before implementing SD-WAN?
Before implementing SD-WAN, enterprises must take a holistic view of the current network environment and future business goals to ensure the solution aligns. Key considerations include existing network performance and pain points; future scalability needs; application bandwidth; latency demands; and security protocols needed to protect data across distributed environments.
Is SD-WAN suitable for global enterprises?
Yes. SD-WAN is suitable for global enterprises as it enables a consistent user experience across geographically dispersed sites. It intelligently routes traffic based on real-time network conditions, ensuring optimal performance for critical applications regardless of location. SD-WAN supports the growing reliance on cloud and SaaS platforms, with more direct, efficient access that reduces latency.