The Underlying Challenges of Migrating to SD-WAN

By Sameer Kanse, CBO- Celerityx

In today's digital age, organisations constantly seek ways to enhance their network infrastructure to meet the ever-growing demands of the modern business landscape. Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) has emerged as a promising solution, offering improved flexibility, agility, and cost-efficiency compared to traditional WAN setups. The traditional MPLS links are making way for broadband and internet-leased line-based connectivity, which provides a productive and economical solution for the cloud-based ecosystem. 

However, while SD-WAN brings many benefits, it also has its underlying challenges that organisations must address when migrating to this technology.

Integration with Existing Infrastructure: One of the primary challenges of migrating to SD-WAN is integrating it seamlessly with existing network infrastructure. Many organisations have invested heavily in their legacy WAN setups, and transitioning to SD-WAN requires careful planning to ensure a smooth coexistence and migration process.

Security Concerns: While SD-WAN offers enhanced visibility and control, it can also introduce security vulnerabilities if not correctly configured. Organisations must implement robust security measures to protect their data and applications in the SD-WAN environment.

Bandwidth and QoS Management: Managing bandwidth allocation and Quality of Service (QoS) in a dynamic SD-WAN environment can be complex. Organisations must strike the right balance between optimising application performance and controlling costs.

Diverse Connectivity Types: SD-WAN allows for various connection types, such as MPLS, broadband, and cellular networks. However, managing diverse connectivity types and ensuring reliable connectivity in different locations can be challenging.

Application Prioritisation: Ensuring critical applications receive the necessary prioritisation in SD-WAN can be tricky. Organisations must define policies aligning with their business objectives and constantly adjust them to maintain optimal performance.

Skillset Gaps: SD-WAN is relatively new, and many IT teams may need more expertise to design, deploy, and manage these networks effectively. Bridging the skillset gap through training and collaboration is essential.

Vendor Selection: Choosing the right SD-WAN vendor and solution for your organisation's specific needs can be overwhelming. The market is crowded, and each vendor offers unique features. A wrong choice can lead to inefficiencies and increased costs.

Compliance and Regulatory Challenges: Organisations operating in highly regulated industries face additional challenges when migrating to SD-WAN. Ensuring compliance with industry-specific regulations is crucial.

Monitoring and Troubleshooting: Proactive monitoring and efficient troubleshooting become paramount in an SD-WAN environment. Organisations must use the right tools and practices to maintain network performance and uptime.

While SD-WAN offers significant advantages regarding network flexibility and cost savings, it is essential to recognise and address the underlying challenges associated with migration. Effective planning, a focus on security, skill development, and careful vendor selection are critical to successfully transitioning to SD-WAN. By addressing these challenges, organisations can fully capitalise on the benefits of this transformative technology and adapt to the evolving demands of the digital landscape.

At CelerityX, our vision is to have a unified Platform for Network Lifecycle management (NetX) where any enterprise can digitally evolve in only a few clicks. It has features where customers get a lot of advantages such as discovering and comparing service providers' pricing for any WAN links anywhere, buying links directly or on an aggregated basis by uploading a PO / KYC document only once across providers, receiving Amazon-like updates of delivery status, single unified billing portal with GST reconciliation, and having a single point of contact for all monitoring and trouble ticketing issues. NetX simplifies the process across multiple WAN types, including Broadband, Internet Leased Lines, SIM cards, or MPLS links.