Can DIY Support SD-WAN?
Considering a new WAN solution can be intimidating. Especially when that new solution is moving to SD-WAN. While some individuals may have been through an implementation in a past company, most will be undertaking this project for the first time. That means while many providers promise simple installs and zero-touch deployment, preparing a network for a complete overhaul on your own is more of a task than many are ready for.
Furthermore, enterprises struggle to find a cohesive network platform that allows them to bring their core business infrastructure, applications, and policies into a single pane of glass. QOS takes the dispersed network and integrates it with a managed offering that gives enterprises an engrained partner to grow and build their network stack.
When considering whether DIY is the right fit for your organization, take a look across the board to see if adding a heavy platform to your IT ecosystem will subsequently overwhelm the IT organization.
350 Hours
On average in engineering design, configuration, and deployment
36 Hours
Of training per tech required before understanding basic SD-WAN operations
$100,000
Invested in human capital before your SD-WAN is even turned “on”
The Pros
and Cons of DIY
- Maintain Tight Control
- Internal process flexibility
- Rapid add or remove locations
- Reporting tools built dor platform
- Stay focused on CORE business needs
- Archive large scale cost savings
- Deliver with limited IT staff or field staff
- Scale back operating cots after deployment
- Go beyond staff competencies
Can DIY
Support SD-WAN?
QOS Networks is purpose-built for SD-WAN and network success. We've invested heavily in not just the human element and the knowledge that comes with it, but also in the operational maturity that is required for sustainable network management. Backed by ITIL methodology, we assist customers with things like predictable outages, change management and configuration drift, carrier ticketing and circuit management. QOS gives your IT team the ability to get back to their core strategy and pursue new goals.
| DIY | Managed SD-WAN | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer manages or adds resources, tools, and processes | QOS manages or adds resources, tools and processes | ||
| Customer’s IT team is solely responsible and accountable | QOS is the “one back to pat” or “one throat the choke” | ||
| Customer needs to hire new staff when a gap in skills is identified | QOS executes strategic and tactical IT functions | ||
| Deployment is manual, and each step is cumbersome | QOS has deployed tens of thousands of devices with a quality control process that ensures rapid, accurate & on-time deployment | ||
| Staff works within the walls of the current product | QOS makes data-driven improvements to existing processes | ||
| Ongoing management is reliant on staff, their time and their knowledge | QOS staffs a 24x7x365 Global NOC with techs who live and breathe SD-WAN | ||
| Hourly cost per hour | Monthly or annual predictable cost | ||
| Wait for vendor to provide “break fixes” | Largest deployments means QOS has front of the line access, updates, and sits on vendor Advisory Board | ||
| Project-based hiring / firing | Ongoing for life of agreement |
SD-WAN
Day 0
Designing an SD-WAN configuration is intricate and full of dependencies. On average, our highly experienced engineers spend over 200 hours on a 100-site customer before deployment even kicks off.
SD-WAN
Deployment
QOS has automated the entire device configuration process from start to finish, cutting the time down from an average of 30 manual minutes per device, to 1 device every 30 seconds.
SD-WAN
Ongoing Management
Managing just SD-WAN requires more than uptime/downtime and application monitoring. SD-WAN becomes a critical data source for network management. But you have to know how to tap that data and leverage it to maximum advantage.
