Top 3 Takeaways for Choosing an MPLS Alternative for Today’s Enterprise Applications

Today’s enterprise applications place huge demands on the wide area network (WAN), especially in terms of bandwidth and performance, and in addition to providing new challenges for cloud connectivity.

This means there are new requirements for the enterprise WAN that must be met if you want to ensure the best performance for your mission- and business-critical applications. We asked Scott Raynovich, Principal Analyst with Futuriom Research and President of Rayno Media, Inc., and Dave Nuti, VP of Business Development for Aryaka, to discuss considerations for choosing MPLS alternatives in a recent webinar

Attendees during the live broadcast indicated that they need an alternative to MPLS. 48% of attendees pointed specifically to long deployment times with MPLS, but a large percentage said that they have additional problems: Complexity (hardware and ISP integrations), Managing multiple telcos and obtaining support, and accessing and integrating cloud and SaaS application origins.

An increasing number of IT leaders are searching for an answer to these problems, but the solutions offered, thus far, fall short of business needs and user expectations.

You can watch a replay of the webinar on-demand, but here are the top three takeaways from this broadcast:

1. SD-WAN Provides Flexibility and Cloud Connectivity, but…

Over the past several years, various solutions and vendors have come out of the woodwork to solve the cloud connectivity problem. There are three advantages to using SD-WAN: it offers quick deployment, it simplifies the edge and eliminates all or some CapEx, and it leverages an internet edge to allow for an easier migration of applications to the cloud.

However, there’s already fatigue around the concept in the marketplace. While everyone seems to “know” that SD-WAN is a trend, there is a lack of a concrete definition for the word. Dozens of new vendors seem to be popping up offering an internet on-ramp while old vendors are suddenly acquiring and adopting SD-WAN to stay relevant.

SD-WAN may solve some of the problems of MPLS, but because it leverages the internet, it introduces latency, packet loss, jitter, and security problems into the WAN – all things that MPLS was supposed to solve for in the first place.

2. Hybrid WAN Seems Like a Great Way to Transition Your WAN, but…

So, if transitioning completely to SD-WAN is not an option, why not build a hybrid WAN to get the benefits of MPLS and SD-WAN?

There’s an alleged simplicity in combining these two elements. It offers vendors a convenient excuse if they don’t already have a complete solution to your application connectivity and performance. Hybrid WANs allow you to continue using MPLS for your on-premises applications while switching to SD-WAN for SaaS; however, this means that you still have long deployment times, lack of flexibility, and high costs with your MPLS and lack of security and stability with your SD-WAN.

Far from solving the problems your WAN and end users are experiencing, you’re simply introducing two sets of problems that now need solutions.

3. The Solution: A Homogenous WAN

The solution is not to cobble together disparate pieces, layering hardware and software on top of a legacy product; instead, it’s important to establish a homogenous/all-in-one architecture that combines only the best features of legacy WAN solutions (like security and stability) with those of SD-WAN (like cloud connectivity and flexibility).

When evaluating MPLS alternatives for supporting enterprise applications, ask your vendor:

• Can you deploy a site quickly?
• How long does it take to scale?
• Does your WAN have reach, not just to all global geographies, but also to every application origin and every end user, regardless of device?
• Is there visibility into the network for real-time management and decision making?
• Is there an option for managed services so your team can focus on optimizing the investment instead of day-to-day operations?

The Solution: Aryaka’s global SD-WAN

With Aryaka’s global SD-WAN, enterprises have a central platform equally equipped to handle any application origin and deliver it to any type of user around in the world. By leveraging a global private WAN equipped with built-in SD-WAN and WAN Optimization, there is no application or user left behind. We allow your team to consume a purpose-built network instead of constructing it themselves, and there are no devices to add or manage at the edge. Our solution is easy to validate, and it eliminates the risk of taking on new IT investments.

Enterprises need to stop having telco conversations. Stop limiting your business. Watch the full recording here.

If you’re ready to move beyond the telco conversation, get in touch with Aryaka today.