Assessing Business Requirements

The First Step in Migrating from MPLS to SD-WAN

Migrating from MPLS to SD-WAN is a transformative step for modern enterprises. It promises cost savings, improved agility, and better application performance. But before you jump into deployment, it’s critical to take a step back and assess your business requirements. This foundational step ensures your network is built to support current needs while aligning with future goals. Let’s break this down into three key areas: understanding your current network, identifying future business goals, and assessing application performance and bandwidth requirements.

Understanding Current Network Needs

Before making any changes, you need a crystal-clear picture of your existing network environment. Ask yourself:

• What is your current network architecture? Take stock of how your MPLS network is structured and which locations it connects.
• Which sites are critical? Identify locations that are business-critical versus those with lighter network demands.
• What traffic patterns are prevalent? Understand the flow of data, such as branch-to-branch communication, cloud usage, and data center dependency.

By analyzing these factors, you’ll uncover potential pain points in your MPLS setup, such as high costs, limited bandwidth, or slow response times. These insights provide a benchmark for what your SD-WAN solution needs to deliver.

Identifying Future Business Goals

Your network isn’t just about today—it’s the backbone of your organization’s future. Migration to SD-WAN should support long-term growth and evolving business strategies. Consider these questions:

• Are you planning to expand? Whether it’s opening new branch offices or growing remote teams, your network must scale seamlessly.
• What’s your cloud strategy? With the rise of SaaS and cloud-hosted applications, direct internet access and optimized cloud performance are crucial.
• Are you adopting new technologies? If you’re investing in IoT, AI, or edge computing, your network must handle the increased connectivity and data processing demands.

By aligning your SD-WAN strategy with these goals, you’ll future-proof your network while ensuring your business remains agile and competitive.

Assessing Application Performance and Bandwidth Requirements

In today’s application-driven world, network performance directly impacts user experience and productivity. Take the time to:

• Audit your applications. Identify all the applications running on your network, from mission-critical tools like ERP systems to bandwidth-heavy platforms like video conferencing.
• Measure current performance. Determine which applications experience latency, jitter, or packet loss under the current MPLS setup.
• Forecast future demand. As your organization grows, so will your application usage. Plan for increased bandwidth requirements and ensure SD-WAN can prioritize critical traffic.

SD-WAN’s application-aware routing and QoS capabilities can dramatically improve performance—but only if you know what to prioritize. Understanding these requirements upfront will guide you in configuring policies that optimize application delivery.

Why This Step Matters

Skipping the business requirements assessment is like building a house without a blueprint. It’s impossible to know what resources you’ll need, what challenges you’ll face, or what the final result should look like. By investing time in understanding your current and future needs, you’re setting the stage for a smooth migration to SD-WAN that meets your business objectives.