Blog: SD-WAN isn’t MPLS replacement, it’s MPLS enhancement

At TNC, we love nothing more than bursting the hype bubble around a topic and helping our customers make evidence-based decisions that deliver value, without being swayed by marketing and oversell.

One of the most persistent hype bubbles in the market at the moment is that “SD-WAN will replace MPLS”, and it’s a bubble we get to burst on a regular basis. Let’s be clear – SD-WAN is a very interesting technology that has lots of promise for the future, as well as having some valuable use cases today.

However, the idea that SD-WAN must replace MPLS is simply not true – in almost every case we are seeing SD-WAN co-existing with MPLS – in other words, SD-WAN is enhancing MPLS, not replacing it.

There are many reasons for this: - In some countries, such as the UK, MPLS is either cost neutral or even cheaper for connectivity than internet, so there is little commercial case for replacement - Many traffic types, particularly voice, still need the quality of service which MPLS provides.

MPLS connectivity typically has superior SLAs compared to internet
MPLS remains the most productised connectivity option by the service providers, meaning they are simply better at delivering it compared to internet services

It is of course important to note that hybrid networks have been on the rise for many years, long before SD-WAN came onto the scene, so there is already a long-term trend to mixing MPLS and internet connectivity. Indeed, TNC has written many white papers talking about us reaching “peak MPLS”. However, in all those white papers, we’ve noted that MPLS will be with us for a long time to come, for many of the reasons that SD-WAN will also not replace MPLS.

In summary, MPLS remains a very useful connectivity solution that is available almost everywhere, delivers solid performance, typically comes with strong SLAs, and is commercially attractive. For sure, SD-WAN will have an increasing role to play in many organisations’ connectivity strategies, but in most cases this will be as an enhancement to MPLS within a hybrid network environment, not as a direct replacement for MPLS.

As always, if you would like to discuss this, or any other network topic, do please get in touch. Here at TNC, we develop more network strategies for more organisations than any other independent consultancy so whether its internet, MPLS, SD-WAN, or all of the above, we have the skills, insight and experience to help you get the best possible outcomes.

By John Waterhouse, CEO

24th July 2019

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