Are These WAN Sourcing Trends Real or Just Hype?

Season 5 of TeleGeography Explains the Internet is here, and we're kicking things off with Dennis Thankachan, Co-Founder and CEO at Lightyear.

Because Dennis is uniquely positioned to see how enterprises are sourcing networks, I was excited to talk to him about some key WAN trends he has seen recently.

This episode gets into the shift to off-premises data centers, hybrid and remote work, the drive to cut network costs through changing technologies, right-sizing networks, and more. We also touch on Dennis’ skepticism about frequently mentioned WAN trends and technologies.

I hope you enjoy this deep dive into how the WAN is—and should be—changing with the market and technology.

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Key Takeaways

WAN Trends Driving Market Changes

The duo highlight several significant trends impacting enterprise WAN sourcing:

• Shift to Cloud and Off-Premises Data Centers: A long-term trend moving services away from on-premise infrastructure toward public and, increasingly, private/colocation data centers. This has rendered traditional MPLS networks less relevant for many use cases.
• Rise of Hybrid and Remote Work: Accelerated by recent events, this trend has fundamentally changed the corporate network perimeter, endpoints, and required use cases, influencing how SD-WAN is deployed and driving the need for integrated security solutions like SASE.
• Cost Cutting: Driven by the recent economic climate, enterprises are aggressively pursuing cost reductions by changing technologies (e.g., moving from MPLS), re-evaluating spend, and rationalizing their networks. 
• Adoption of SD-WAN Overlays with Fiber Underlays: Enterprises are widely adopting SD-WAN solutions, often combined with fiber-based internet or point-to-point circuits, as a more flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional network architectures. The trend is moving towards second-generation SD-WAN that integrates security.

Are Some WAN Trends More Hype than Reality?

There's some skepticism regarding the current widespread adoption of certain technologies in the enterprise WAN space. Are they currently more hype than not? Time will tell.

• Network as a Service (NaaS): While existing "fabric providers" serve niche use cases for data center connectivity, the broader concept of NaaS as a full managed network service (like newer startups attempt) is considered early stage with uncertain business model viability and limited current proliferation in the market. The term is also noted to be subject to "NaaS washing," sometimes used simply to describe different contracting methods or portals rather than a truly transformative technology.
• Edge Cloud: Despite being a real technology, widespread enterprise adoption is minimal because very few use cases genuinely require the ultra-low latency benefits it offers, making it seem like a "hammer looking for a nail."
• Private/Edge 5G: This is largely dismissed as an enterprise trend, with no clear rationale or significant instances of companies building their own private 5G networks for general use. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), including 5G for backup, is real and used in specific situations, but it is generally considered a connectivity option of last resort where better wired alternatives are unavailable, difficult, or too costly to deploy.