SD-WAN Cost & Pricing Guide

More and more organisations around the world are learning about the disruptive technology of Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) and its numerous performance and operational benefits compared to legacy technologies, such as MPLS. But what about the costs? How do you know if this rapidly evolving technology will be cost-effective for your organisation?

For many companies, the main priorities surrounding any new IT solution are:

1. Performance
2. Security
3. Management and support
4. Price

Today, we’re focusing on the price, but you can learn more about the performance and security of Australia’s best Secure SD-WAN provider here. 

When it comes to the cost of SD-WAN, there are many factors to consider. Every vendor is different, but they generally share common metrics when it comes to pricing and TCO considerations.

Choosing the right SD-WAN solution saves time and money by offering a variety of network and security services in a centrally managed, homogeneous solution. However, like any new project or system, there are always costs to consider.

Here’s a breakdown of the areas you need to consider when looking to transition to SD-WAN.

Upfront costs of SD-WAN

Infrastructure & Technology

The most significant factors that influence the cost of your SD-WAN infrastructure are:

1. The size of your network – How many locations do you have and users per location?
2. The required amount of bandwidth and backup links at each location.
3. The number of data centres – Private cloud, public cloud, co-location services.
4. The state of your current infrastructure – Existing and legacy systems your new SD-WAN will need to integrate with either on a temporary (when migrating) or ongoing basis.
5. Your organisations’ security posture and policy.

Ongoing costs of SD-WAN

Bandwidth & Sites

As with any IT solution, one of the main factors to consider when implementing SD-WAN is growth. It is important to consider a vendor that can allow you to scale easily as your organisation grows. Choosing the right vendor will not only make scaling easier, it will also make it more cost-effective.

Here are some of the ways your bandwidth and sites can alter the cost of SD-WAN:

1. Remote employees: You’ll need sufficient Internet bandwidth for your VPN server to adequately service your remote users.
2. The number of branch locations: You’ll need sufficient bandwidth at each location and factor in the cost of CPE (Customer Premises Equipment), SD-WAN licensing and backup links.
3. The predicted growth of your company: Where and when will you be adding more locations?
4. Public and private cloud: How many cloud providers do you work with and will you need to securely interconnect your cloud workloads?

Security

Security and privacy are crucial for any business. Some vendors offer Secure SD-WAN solutions that include basic security in the upfront costs. Other vendors will charge an additional, ongoing fee for basic or advanced security features.

Security costs can be influenced by the following factors: 

1. Your organisation’s sensitivity to security and your security policy.
2. Which locations require Advanced Security such as Unified Threat Management (UTM) and IPS.
3. Do you require the ability to easily make global changes to security configurations based on your organisations’ security policy?
4. The number of users and bandwidth provisioned at each site.

IT Staffing & Management

When considering how much SD-WAN costs, management and staffing cannot be ignored. However, there are certain factors that may mean you’ll need to budget for more management and staffing. These costs can be eliminated or mitigated by choosing the right SD-WAN provider.

If you are a large organisation with complex requirements, it is often beneficial to choose a Fully Managed Service Provider to deliver and manage your new Secure SD-WAN. Choosing the right provider to assist with deployment and on-going management can make a large difference to your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) since your IT support staff will not need to spend time developing additional skills and managing the network.

If you are a smaller organisation with less complex requirements and a “Lean IT” team, i.e. small, core team of IT support staff, you can look to vendors who offer user-self-serve solutions with simplified setup and management options. This can be an ideal choice while still offering advanced SD-WAN functionality and Security.