Building a Resilient Cloud Network with SD-WAN

Ovum

TMT intelligence |

Ovum

Building a Resilient Cloud

Network with SD-WAN

The evolution in the networks

There is an evolution happening within modern enterprise IT as

many are now adopting a cloud and digital first strategy. There

is now widespread IT innovation as enterprises modernize their

infrastructure to achieve agility and resiliency. Software-defined

solutions are widely implemented with the wide area networks

(WANs) showing very strong momentum. Enterprises are moving

towards a highly agile WAN driven by several factors:

Ovum believes that cloud has

reached a tipping point globally with growth expected to reach 26% in 2016 and expected to accelerate further over the next few years.

Almost 35% of MNCs in Asia-Pacific have also stated that adoption of cloud services is their top driver of network services spending in 2016/17.

01

The evolution in the networks

The major paradigm shift is that enterprises are increasingly leveraging cloud technologies globally, with many moving to cloud as their main delivering mechanism of ICT services.

30

%

26%

4%

9%

2%

2%

22%

1%

1%

3%

1%

35%

39%

Secondly, digital disruption has fundamentally changed the way many enterprises operate and function, with many embracing this disruption by investing in their own digital transformation to engage with their customers.

39% of MNCs in Asia-Pacific have cited strengthening digital channels and improving customer engagement as a top business objective, making digitalization the top business priority in Asia-Pacific.

02

28% of MNCs in Asia-Pacific rated increased

deployment of mission-critical applications as one of their top drivers of network spending over the next two years. Highly resilient and self-healing networks have become essential to enterprises.

Lastly, enterprises are deploying more mission-critical

applications (e.g., video, ERP, contact centers) than ever, and factors of real-time performance and security are becoming more critical in this hyper-competitive world.

The evolution in the networks

28%

03

In today’s highly digital and cloud enterprise, networks need be highly scalable, more reliable and able to

allocate resources to support such a massive flux (increase and decrease) in traffic.

This becomes massively critical for enterprises that are expanding rapidly, especially across geographies, and are looking for solutions that simplify and centralize

management of highly intelligent networks. Agile and high-

capacity resilient networks are now an indispensable part of

the overall ICT infrastructure as enterprises are increasingly

turning toward the virtues of virtualized networks and the

architectures of software-defined network (SDN) based

WAN to support their overall ICT ambitions.

Why enterprises should

modify their network strategy?

For many enterprises, the wide area network (WAN) has evolved from a “pure communications pipeline” into a major strategic ICT investment. The WAN has become an indispensable part in the delivery of ICT services and it is the foundation on which solutions are built.

Enterprises can no longer think of their WAN as an afterthought as businesses change and transformation depends on network resiliency. There are a number of business and technology factors that are driving WAN

investments toward a highly scalable and agile architecture

that compels enterprises to modify their network strategy.

Why enterprises should modify their network strategy in the light of SD-WAN

In the past, the enterprise WAN was largely built to ensure that branch offices had access to corporate applications that were housed at a host headquarters location.

Delivery models have evolved with the move to more cloud services, and business applications are increasingly being delivered via SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. Business applications are now being hosted externally with both mobile and branch office users consuming applications in an ubiquitous manner. The relentless shift toward cloud delivery and rise of mobile-first enterprise

applications are creating new demands for the enterprise WAN. This has placed increased pressure on networks and is now forcing

enterprises to overhaul their WAN architecture.

The days of homogenous networks are gone with increasing variety and complexity. It’s driving enterprises to look for solutions that lower cost while increasing flexibility of leveraging various transport/access technologies.

It is also critical for enterprises to have increased reliability as they will need to better support their internal customers and end users. Hybrid networks or the ability to leverage multiple WAN connections (e.g., MPLS, DSL, fiber, LTE) that ensures optimal network reliability are fast becoming the de facto network architecture to support real-time applications. This model also has the flexibility to support links between

headquarters, branch offices, SaaS

applications, mobile employees and cloud- based data. The attraction of the hybrid model is that it lowers operating expenses while enabling newer applications that can be launched more rapidly. It also provides the perfect cost-effective alternative to MPLS-only connection for enterprises.

01 Cloud adoption forces

change in enterprise networks.

Hybrid solutions to optimize cost.

02

Why enterprises should modify their network strategy in the light of SD-WAN

Enterprises must be able to adapt quickly and cost-effectively to ever-changing markets and customer demands.

IT groups also need to assist business leaders in creating revenue growth, as business leaders are their customers. This requires tremendous agility and flexibility in order to respond effectively and quickly. Enterprises are also looking to architect networks that

“understand” applications and have the agility and flexibility to prioritize mission-critical applications versus best-effort applications and traffic.

With more applications being added onto the WAN and delivered via the cloud, the traditional SLAs that enterprises negotiate with their service providers fall short and are not sufficient.

Any penalty that is enforced as a result of a breach in SLAs does not make up for the material impact on business if there is any downtime.

Business agility continues to be a

top-level priority to remain competitive.

03

04 Service quality is becoming an issue.

The benefits of SD-WAN

With global expansion translating to increase network complexity, enterprises are actively exploring network solutions that will support an ICT infrastructure that needs to be extremely nimble and agile.

Ovum believes that SD-WAN is a transformational approach to networking that can simplify branch office network

architecture and ensure optimal security and application performance. SD-WAN leverages SDN technology where the network control plane and data plane are separated and decoupled from the services and applications that use the network. This provides increasing flexibility and variety of network service types and hybrid options.

There has been a heightened interest in SD-WAN over

the past 24 months globally, with Ovum estimating that

approximately 5% of global MNCs having deployed SD-WAN

solutions. This is expected to reach close to 30% in 3 years

as there are many compelling benefits to implementing SD-

WAN technologies.

Branch network simplicity and improved manageability

Fast-expanding MNCs often find network deployment as one of its bottlenecks. First, centralized network management allows the deployment of applications and cloud services more rapidly, allowing branch offices to have the “same experience” as their headquarters. Second, provisioning time of enterprise-grade VPN services to the branch office will be dramatically reduced with SD- WAN. Third, SD-WAN can automatically react to changing network conditions, allocating or re-routing network resources accordingly.

This is important for enterprises that are heavy cloud users, have strong digital assets and are adopters of real-time applications like video conferencing solutions.

Increased flexibility

SD-WAN gives network administrators a higher level of independence when choosing appropriate networks to connect branch offices, remote offices or cloud-based applications.

There’s no longer rigidity over the decision to use MPLS, Metro Ethernet, broadband, wireless or the Internet, because applications can be programmed to use a specific network at specific times, depending on the implications of traffic, business need, security or other factors.

Opex and capex reduction

This continues to be one of the fundamental benefits of SD- WAN as traditional network expansion can result in spiraling cost. These solutions usually permit more flexible commercial constructs with hybrid options and services. SD-WAN also enables delivery of hybrid networks with broadband access or wireless services with enterprise-grade WAN features, reducing opex for enterprises.

The benefits of SD-WAN

The benefits of SD-WAN

Policy-based optimal application performance

WANs today are not application aware and they do not consider application thresholds or performance. MNCs continues to struggle with delivering optimal application performance to branch offices and user experience can be severely impacted. By abstracting the physical network away from the application and the data, enterprises can set up automated policies that ensure data is transported by the best performance, most logical option. It can pre-determine that lower-priority YouTube videos are accessed via the slowest connection unless it’s core to an employee’s job function.

Improved security

Network administrators can ensure that sensitive data is always transmitted across encrypted networks or through a firewall rather than configuring all network connections, which can be very costly. This makes it easier to scale and segment global security policies as security policies are centralized.

This allows the enterprise to have a consistent authentication, standard practice and transport encryption policy regardless of the underlying type of access.

Use Cases

The Use cases below describe the many

fundamental reasons for deploying a SD-WAN

solution by enterprises. Below are some of the early

adopters of SD-WAN in the Asia-Pacific region.

CUSTOMER PROFILE 1

Global MNCs with large number of small branches or retail outlets in Asia- Pacific, especially China and India

Global MNCs are strategically investing in the Asia-Pacific region given its long-term growth opportunities, and the region continues to be a focus area of expansion and investment.

According to FDI Insights, Asia-Pacific is the top region globally for capital foreign direct investment, attracting 45% of the total globally.

India, accounted for 20% of the Asia-Pacific total and is the top destination. It is followed by China (18%). MNCs continue to build up their presence in the region and push deeper into critical markets like China and India which hold the greatest long-term opportunity. Scale and local presence in the region remains very critical for these MNCs.

Value proposition:

SD-WAN allows fast and low-touch deployment for small branches with a standard configuration and no on-site IT resources. MNCs that are looking for agility to scale rapidly in the region and do not want to invest in IT resources in all their branch sites, have looked to SD-WAN as a viable option to optimize resources in the region.

Use Cases

Asia Pacific 45% India 20%

China 18% Focus areas of

investment:

Use Cases

CUSTOMER PROFILE 2

Manufacturing companies with requirement to

communicate with supply chain partners

Manufacturing companies have increasingly complex supply chains. Globalization is also making overall operational management a serious challenge. In a recent Ovum Asia- Pacific MNC survey, 31% of manufacturing MNCs cited that streamlining operations and efficiency as critical, making it their top corporate goal with supply chain as their key focus area. There is also a strong focus on improving supply chain efficiency to improve margins as manufacturers move up the value chain. Manufacturers are also investing heavily across the region to take advantage of the consumer-led growth in the region.

100%

31% of MNCs say:

0%

Value proposition:

Manufacturers look for micro-segmentation, that is multiple

VPN connections to segregate intranet and extranet to

supply chains. In the process, this creates flexible, dynamic

segmentation where any data sent across virtual user

segments is exclusive to each segment. This translates to

customers having multiple virtual private networks from a

Use Cases

CUSTOMER PROFILE 3

Companies that have substantial applications operated from public cloud

There has been a strong uptake in cloud adoption among enterprises in Asia-Pacific, with overall growth rates expected to be over 26% in 2016. Enterprises look toward deployment of cloud technologies to enhance their agility in the region, allowing them to become more competitive and able to respond to changes in market dynamics more rapidly.

Ovum believes that between 30% and 35% of application workloads will be delivered via the cloud in 2018.

of application workloads delivered via the cloud in 2018 growth in cloud uptake across Asia

26%

30%

Value proposition:

High performance and secure access to cloud resources ensure

that level of productivity and performance are not compromised

with increased adoption of cloud services. Data privacy and

cyber security concerns can also be addressed effectively.

Use Cases

CUSTOMER PROFILE 4

Companies that have used Internet VPN extensively in place of MPLS

Employees need to be connected to their intranet more often than ever before as real- time access gives them information needed to perform and execute decisions. More and more enterprises rely heavily on Internet-based VPN to enable this. Ovum estimates that close to 32% of MNCs still use Internet VPN extensively in place of MPLS globally.

VPNVPN

MPLSMPLS

of MNCs are on a dedicated VPN service

62%

of MNCs still use Internet VPN

32%

Value proposition:

SD-WAN offers enterprises the ease of setting up and

managing VPN based on Internet compared with other

traditional solutions. This removes complexity, lowers

costs and relieves the support pressure of ICT resources.

Singtel

Headquartered in Singapore, Singtel is one of the largest ICT service providers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Within the Singtel enterprise group, there are two additional entities – Optus and NCS – that deliver end-to- end ICT services across the region.

Its flagship product, ConnectPlus IPVPN, is widely recognized as one of the leading MPLS services in the Asia-Pac region, with an extensive global reach of more than 370

points of presence offering seamless connections for MNCs.

In June 2015, Singtel announced a partnership with Viptela to launch Singtel ConnectPlus Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN)

service. This service is designed to help all enterprises, including global MNCs, to simplify the management of their networks, improve

performance and lower costs.

Singtel ConnectPlus Software-Defined WAN (Singtel C+ SD-WAN)

Launched in June 2015, Singtel ConnectPlus Software-Defined WAN service has experienced strong traction in the Asia-Pacific region. The following are some of the key features and benefits of the service:

Singtel

Easy setup of hybrid networks.

MNCs are increasing implementing hybrid network with MPLS service as the core and leveraging Internet and wireless. Conventionally, MNCs that redesigned their WAN to a hybrid model find it increasingly difficult to manage, given there are two or more separate networks and multiple providers to manage. Singtel C+ SD-WAN service creates an overlay network over any transport to form one single network fabric, making it easier for the enterprise to set up and manage hybrid networks.

Improved security with IPsec self-provisioning.

As networks become more complex, security issues also increase as enterprises struggle to secure their networks against attacks and breaches. Traditional IPsec is often challenged to interwork with MPLS networks. With Singtel C+ SD-WAN service, all IPsec key management is extracted from the customers and is entirely self-provision, removing an administrative pain for enterprises. It is automatically provisioned between the MPLS service and Internet service.

Centralize and more effective management.

With SD-WAN, the network control and data planes are separated. Control of all the network

C+ SD-WAN service, the control plane will be extracted and the customer is able to make network configuration through the portal. There will also be different reports on controllers, health of networks, bandwidth consumption and other detailed reporting. Customers also get the benefits of service chaining whereby traffic can be aggregated and routed through a firewall in one single location vs. multiple firewalls in the past.

Highly programmable network.

With application aware routing features, enterprises can now program their network to best deliver higher utilization and efficiency.

Customers can now have a defined policy that can drive noncritical traffic to the Internet and critical traffic to MPLS with granular SLA-based networking. Singtel C+ SD-WAN service can determine which route an ERP packet should take and pre-determine or identify which network will meet the required latency. Individual applications, depending on whatever latency is needed, will be routed either to the Internet or MPLS. Overall, this will help customers better manage their network, performance and flow of applications traffic.

Enterprises need a set of precautions to ensure that sensitive data remains secure, Singtel C+ SD-WAN solution create end-to-end network segmentation over an existing network, but without modifying any devices in the path. This ensures that sensitive data remains secure with the ability to

Global network scale

Singtel has over 370 PoPs globally in major cities in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America regions with local support on the ground. The Singtel C+ SD- WAN service complements Singtel’s ConnectPlus services and allows enterprises to seamless manage their global hybrid networks.

An end-to-end managed offering

Singtel can provide an end-to- end managed offering for SD- WAN services for its customers.

This could also include building and redesigning of WAN

topography and in addition post implementation support is also available for complex engagements.

Consulting services

For MNCs looking for staged deployment and have concerns about working through

challenging interoperability issues, Singtel can provide consultancy services and design paths to implement interoperability between physical and virtual environments.

Experienced ICT provider with strong record with large MNCs

Singtel has a strong record as an ICT provider and innovator, especially among large

global MNCs and enterprises, working in collaboration with Optus and NCS and its extensive partnership ecosystem.

Future-proof platform

Singtel C+ SD-WAN solution is expected to evolve with advances in technology.

Customers will have access to all the future enhancements and upgrades.

Why Singtel?

SD-WAN “questions to ask”

for enterprises

Enterprises worldwide expect a range of advantages and benefits to their business from SD-WAN solutions. There will be a surge in SD-WAN solutions coming into the

marketplace, and enterprises will have plenty of providers and solutions to choose from.

However, enterprises should not lose sight of the overarching

goal: to provide robust connectivity to applications and users

accompanied with simplicity and optimal performance. The

ultimate end objective is to deliver significant business and

operational benefits to the enterprise. For many enterprises

that remain cautious in their approach to SD-WAN solutions,

below are some guidelines as to what they should consider

or think about before starting their SD-WAN journey:

SD-WAN “questions to ask” for Enterprises

01 Method of payment or pricing model.

Just like moving from an on-premise model to a cloud model, enterprises should be aware of the variety of pricing models available for licensing, software, maintenance and hardware cost. Service providers will have various pricing models, and enterprises should examine which model best fits their business to determine optimal ROI, budget and cash flow.

02 Integration and interoperability with LAN.

This could be a potential challenge if it is not executed correctly. During pilots, enterprises should test configurations and resolve all major issues before global rollout to avoid disappointment.

03 Have clear objectives and goals.

Enterprises should have a clear understanding of what benefits SD-WAN can deliver. This should be map right back to the goals and ambitions of SD-WAN deployment and it must include both delivering operational and business benefits as this is best way to maximize the full potential of SD-WAN.

04 Due diligence on the various SD- WAN providers and solutions.

Enterprises should do a market scan of the various SD-WAN providers and solutions available. Many of them will have a

different approach especially for flexibility, segmentation and prioritization features.

Enterprises should do their due diligence to ensure that the solution works best with their existing infrastructure and overall WAN goals.

The provider must be a trusted partner as well.