The following post is by Adam Fuoss, VP of Pre-sales Consulting at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. We thank Aruba for being a sponsor.
As IT teams rush to implement SD-WAN to modernize and secure their WAN edge, they are hunting for individuals and partners who can guide them through the challenges that accompany any large infrastructure project. Leverage those who have already been through similar projects, and you increase your chances of a successful outcome.
However, one common thing that’s missing is a documented framework of the actual steps other companies took, what outcomes they were trying to achieve, and if they were able to successfully execute on their project and achieve those outcomes.
Recognizing this need, Aruba interviewed many large EdgeConnect SD-WAN customers over the past six months to understand what it takes to make an SD-WAN implementation successful, with the goal to provide best practices and guidance to IT teams looking to embark on their own SD-WAN journey. Those stories and best practices have been captured in our new eBook from Aruba, available now.
Within the eBook, the Aruba team uncovered three key factors present in each of the most successful implementations we studied.
Begin With the End In Mind
Start with a clear idea of the outcomes the organization wants to achieve. Many companies know that they need to implement SD-WAN to modernize their WAN edge to provide more bandwidth to applications and consolidate multiple devices down to a single appliance, but there may be other initiatives that can be integrated within the project.
One common example is introducing a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture, which can be implemented by leveraging an SD-WAN foundation with cloud-delivered security through services such as Netskope and Zscaler. The edge of the network touches virtually every aspect of the user and application experience, so it’s important to fully comprehend the scope of the SD-WAN deployment and surrounding initiatives and projects. This upfront work will help identify the technology vendors that best match an organization’s needs.
Plan, Pilot, Test, Repeat
The importance of these steps cannot be overstated. “Plan and pilot” means knowing how the project will be deployed before you start. Testing and piloting is one of the best ways to remove hidden variables from the deployment equation, and when you are rolling out tens, hundreds, or thousands of locations you want to have a playbook you follow. From the interviews conducted with customers engaged in large implementations, one common theme that emerged was that the first 10 sites are usually the hardest – it’s where the team will learn about unforeseen issues – but it’s also a great opportunity to work out the kinks and codify and document the best processes. This ensures that the team can take a proverbial warm-up lap before tackling the larger deployment.
In addition to the actual configuration of the SD-WAN network, there may other steps that need to be completed ahead of time, such as ordering circuits, identifying a managed-service partner, or working around contract-end dates. Identifying those requirements early helps to avoid delays later. Leveraging this methodology has empowered customers and partners across thousands of projects to develop effective, efficient implementations. In many of the largest SD-WAN deployments, customers have managed to deploy 50-60 locations per day once the initial planning and testing was completed.
Don’t Underestimate the Network
Finally, the team must reframe their perspective to eliminate the finite mindset around what the network may or may not be capable of. SD-WAN is transformative, and the outcomes it delivers should free companies from legacy constraints that may have halted previous initiatives. The network is the foundation upon which IT can modernize, and updating it is often the required precursor to many new projects. For large retailers, the IT team may be delivering on digital transformation initiatives they have long sought. For manufacturers, it may be rolling out new systems and IoT initiatives. For more traditional banking, insurance, or technology-focused industries, it might be providing users with a modernized branch experience, designed for a hybrid workforce accessing applications in the cloud or datacenter, securely, and from anywhere.
The great thing about embarking upon any SD-WAN project today is that companies can surround themselves with experienced professionals and mature products. The early adopter phase of SD-WAN has passed, and it’s now relatively easy to learn from, and implement, processes and procedures that worked in other deployments at other companies. With Aruba, team leaders can take the guesswork out of large SD-WAN deployments and develop an effective program, starting with the eBook today.