Part 1: Managed, Unmanaged And Co-managed SD-WAN — Which Solution Is Right For You?

Enterprise decision makers are increasingly turning to SD-WAN solutions to help build networks that support changing business needs. For larger businesses, the question often isn’t if they’ll turn to SD-WAN, but rather when and how they’ll manage the deployment. The core of that question is whether to choose a managed, unmanaged or co-managed SD-WAN.

To better understand the landscape and help inform IT and business leaders’ choices, Frost & Sullivan published their “2018 U.S. SD-WAN End-user Survey.” If you’re currently considering the best roadmap for your business, here’s a closer look at unmanaged, managed and co-managed solutions — and how to systematically select the solution that will bring you the best results.

Why Enterprises Are Embracing SD-WAN Solutions

One of the biggest networking trends of 2020 will be SD-WAN solutions. According to a study of 350 decision makers conducted by Frost & Sullivan, 18% currently have a SD-WAN deployment underway, while another 61% plan to begin deployments in the next 12 to 24 months. While the adoption rates and plans varied slightly by industry vertical, the number of department locations and even the mix of networking technologies, a few common benefits drive enterprises to adopt SD-WAN technologies. Decision makers note that these benefits include:

• Ensured resiliency and business continuity 24/7 (78%)
• Superior WAN and application performance (78%)
• In-depth visibility into end-to-end network and application performance (76%)
• Implementation of granular security policies (76%)
• Capturing cost savings from use of internet and wireless links (73%)
• Moving from a router-centric architecture to an application-centric architecture with the ability to centrally configure, manage and orchestrate all branch sites (72%)
• Use of all network links in active-active mode and better link-capacity utilization (66%)

Managed, Unmanaged Or Co-managed: The Case For Each

One of the essential questions decision makers need to take into consideration is whether they’ll manage the SD-WAN deployment in-house, move to a co-managed model or fully entrust a partner through managed solutions. IT and business leaders surveyed by Frost & Sullivan indicated that:

• 54% would prefer a fully managed solution
• 21% would prefer a co-managed SD-WAN deployment
• 25% would prefer do-it-yourself SD-WAN

As organizations seek to speed up time to value and fill gaps in their existing team’s knowledge pool, co-managed and fully managed SD-WAN solutions are favored over in-house deployment. Digging deeper, the key reasons cited for selecting fully managed include:

• Faster troubleshooting and service restoration (74%)
• Simplified vendor management (73%)
• Vendor accountability in the form of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) (73%)

Enterprises are struggling with a range of challenges. Managed solutions offer strategies to decrease downtime, eliminate the pain points of managing a host of vendors and divest long-term accountability for the agreed-upon performance standards.

Understanding The SD-WAN Solutions And When They’re Right For You

Do-It-Yourself: As the name implies, a DIY approach to SD-WAN implementation and management is overseen fully in-house. The hardware, software and human capital expertise — for both ongoing needs and crisis situations — is handled by the company itself. Typically, this approach involves a more robust upfront investment and an expanded skillset that combines application programming expertise with IT staff network knowledge. Challenges to this approach include the need to oversee all network security and managing integrations with new applications, technologies and locations on-site. A DIY SD-WAN solution might be right for you if:

• You’re ready to make a significant upfront investment if required.
• Your IT team has a deep level of expertise in application-specific programming to guide the process from assessment and roadmap development to implementation and ongoing support.
• Your organization prefers to control all connectivity and security management in-house.
• Your organization has the ability to support network related help desk and ticketing functions, such as system troubleshooting and MACD (Move, Add, Change, Delete.)

Fully managed: A fully managed SD-WAN services solution places full responsibility for operation, management and security in the hands of a partner. These managed service provider (MSP) solutions are a good fit for organizations that don’t have in-house talent, don’t want to make a significant upfront investment and require an experienced partner to manage connectivity, network optimization and intelligent service chaining from the edge to the cloud. Organizations that choose an MSP approach need to take careful steps to ensure they choose the partner that’s right for their unique organization, technology mix and long-term needs. A fully managed SD-WAN solution might be right for you if:

• You prefer to avoid a large upfront investment and, instead, spread the costs of an SD-WAN deployment through a subscription-based model.
• Your organization doesn’t have the IT knowledge or bandwidth to manage all aspects of SD-WAN management on a day-to-day basis.
• Professional services support could increase your time to value for mission critical SD-WAN deployments.

Co-managed solutions: Co-managed solutions offer organizations the opportunity to self-manage aspects of their SD-WAN, such as security policies and application policy creation, in combination with outsourcing key components of the network — like connectivity and the Service Level Agreement (SLA) to the service provider. A co-managed SD-WAN solution might be right for you if:

• You prefer to avoid a large upfront investment and, instead, spread the costs of an SD-WAN deployment through a subscription-based model.
• Your organization wants to outsource only some aspects of network management, such as overall connectivity.
• Due to regulatory issues or simple internal business preferences, retaining control of some aspects of the network (such as specific security or applications policy management) is a key consideration.
• Maintaining control of self-service options paired with the ability to outsource key networking aspects enables your organization to retain agility needed in operations.

Conducting A Self-Assessment: What’s Right For You

As you begin the process of considering whether your organization needs a DIY, fully managed, or co-managed SD-WAN solution, here are a few core questions to consider:

• Do you have sufficient expertise and resources on staff to deploy and manage SD-WAN across all sites?
• Is your company willing to invest capital in on-site equipment, or do you prefer more flexible subscription-based operating expenditures?
• Are you prepared to provide an SLA for site deployments or availability to your internal clients (e.g., branch managers or application owners)?
• How will you deal with “day 2” support functions, such as helpdesk and end user ticketing?

As your organization grows, deploys emerging technologies (such as cloud-based applications and personalized mobility services) and opens new locations, SD-WAN network solutions help offer the cost efficiencies, security and agility to provide the network needed to meet customer expectations. By strategically deciding whether to handle your SD-WAN deployment internally, on a co-managed basis or to fully partner with a Managed SD-WAN Services provider, you’ll create a more effective roadmap that’s aligned with your digital transformation goals and long-term business objectives.

Read on for part two in the blog series: 7 Criteria to Guide Your SD-WAN Partner Selection

Learn more about SD-WAN from CenturyLink. Read the full report from Frost & Sullivan.

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