Considering SD-WAN?

QUESTIONS TO
ASK BEFORE
MAKING THE
SWITCH
A Cheat Sheet to Making the
Switch to SD-WAN
SD-WAN offers enterprises a new way of managing and optimizing their WAN. Whether you are looking for
an MPLS replacement or to maximize your bandwidth, SD-WAN has obvious benefits. But not all SD-WAN
vendors are the same. With so many options, it can be difficult to identify the right choice for your company.
These are some of the key areas you should focus on and questions you should ask yourself before making
the switch.

Your current network configuration and the goals you have for your
1
future network will influence your vendor choices. You’ll want to ensure
Map your current that the vendor you select can optimize the various components of
your existing network. Not every vendor can address all of today’s
and future network
networking features, leaving you with a partial solution. Some common
environment
considerations are:

y Is my organization global or regional?

y Do I have MPLS and do I want to replace it?

y Are we using cloud services or plan to use cloud services?

y Do we have a mobile workforce?

y Am I happy with my current security posture and controls or am I

looking to improve those?

N e t w o r k a t t h e S p e e e d o f N OW
A Cheat Sheet to Making the Switch to SD-WAN 2
 The current pain points you have will also influence the vendor you
2
choose. For example, the size of your IT team and whether there are
Map the current pain other value-added projects they may focus on will influence some of the
choices you make. Some key things to consider are:
points you look to
overcome y Is my IT team big enough to manage the load of integrating and
maintaining multiple point solutions from multiple vendors?

y Do I have enough visibility into my network (connectivity issues,

bandwidth and application usage, security events etc.)?

y Can we handle rapid IT changes and growth?

y Am I comfortable being dependent on a telco for basic

MAC operation?

y Can my team achieve the security posture my organization needs?

Thinking through your future needs, and the reason you are embarking
3 on this transition, will give rise to several questions. Some of them may
What you want your be important considerations for the near term, while others may not
become relevant until later. Still, the vendor you choose now will limit
tomorrow's SD-WAN
the options available to you down the road. At a minimum, you should
to be like
consider:

y Do I prefer my SD-WAN to be managed or DIY?

y Do I need management access to make my own configuration

changes, or I am happy with being a read-only user and dependent on
tickets?

y Do I prefer a single pane of glass for all my network and security

controls, or am I ok with multiple management consoles from multiple
vendors?

y Do I need to be able to connect a new site in few days, or am I OK with

1-2 month lead time (like MPLS)?

y Do I want my cloud and mobile to be part of my SD-WAN, benefiting

from all the good SD-WAN offers?

N e t w o r k a t t h e S p e e e d o f N OW
A Cheat Sheet to Making the Switch to SD-WAN 3
 One of the hardest parts of making a transition like this is sifting
4
through various vendor claims and understanding what’s real. A
How can you really simple way to validate a vendor’s claims is to trial their solution. A
PoC will give you the best insights into how flexible the solution is,
evaluate SD-WAN
how easy it is to use, and if it meets your needs. Some thoughts to
vendors?
help focus your PoC:

y Try to complete a PoC in under 1-2 weeks. It will show you how
agile the solution is.

y In the PoC, see what details of analytics are available, and how fast
you can find your way in the management application.

y Transfer files between two distant hosts and compare the

throughput with your current network.

y Open a support ticket. See if support is provided by the vendor

(better) or the partner (less), and what it is like.

y Dig deeper into the security capabilities. Do they have NGFW

(layer-7) or just a basic network FW (layer-3). What other security
capabilities they have?

N e t w o r k a t t h e S p e e e d o f N OW
A Cheat Sheet to Making the Switch to SD-WAN 4
Cato Cloud:
Complete WAN Transformation
Replacing MPLS and legacy WANs isn’t just an opportunity to For more information:
connect our offices quickly and affordably. It’s an opportunity to
www.CatoNetworks.com
transform our entire organization, connecting every user to any
resource from anywhere in the world. By transforming, not just @CatoNetworks
upgrading, their networks companies have reduced WAN-related
costs while still doubling throughput and adding more locations, CONTACT US
decreased deployment times from months to as a little as 30 minutes,
and identified threats in their organizations missed by existing
security appliances.

Yes, It’s a radical vision but one that’s reality. Hundreds of customers
are already experiencing the power of Cato Cloud. Validate it for
yourself by speaking with us today.

Cato.
Network at the Speed of Now
Cato Cloud Managed Services

Global Private Backbone Managed Threat Detection and Response (MDR)

Edge SD-WAN Intelligent Last-Mile Management

Security as a Service Hands-Free Management

Cloud Datacenter Integration

Cloud Application Acceleration

Mobile Access Optimization

N e t w o r k a t t h e S p e e e d o f N OW
A Cheat Sheet to Making the Switch to SD-WAN 5