7 Considerations to Selecting an SD-WAN Backbone Provider

Why it is worth reading

The slowest link in your network determines the entire end-to-end connection - and with it the user experience and the way business gets done. The tricky part: inter-regional traffic depends heavily on middle-mile providers you never contracted, often running aging infrastructure, and when a handover fails, nobody takes ownership of the problem.

This white paper walks through seven checks for evaluating an SD-WAN backbone provider: your locations and PoP density, the application landscape, sites in China, flexibility and resilience needs, SLA requirements, operations capabilities, and how the underlay harmonizes with the SD-WAN overlay. All told through one continuous road-trip analogy that keeps the trade-offs concrete.

What is inside

1. Locations and the middle mileHow site count, PoP density and unreliable middle-mile providers decide your end-to-end performance.
2. Application landscape and ChinaWhich business-critical apps justify a backbone - and why the Great Firewall makes VPN tunnels a non-option for compliant China connectivity.
3. Flexibility, resilience and SLAsHow fast new sites must connect, what downtime costs per hour, and what an end-to-end SLA should actually guarantee.
4. Operations capabilitiesWhy intermittent connectivity issues are like chasing a ghost, and what root cause analysis demands of your team.
5. Basis for SD-WANMaking the underlay harmonize with the SD-WAN overlay - encryption, direct routing and granular breakout - so the investment pays off.

The slowest link in your network is the determining factor of your entire end-to-end connection.

Who it is for

• Network architects planning a global SD-WAN rollout
• IT leaders with sites in China or hard-to-reach regions
• Anyone about to negotiate SLAs with a backbone provider