Managing Multinational Network Modifications

It's another case study episode of the podcast. Today, we welcome Ian Calderbank, Enterprise Network Architect at PageGroup, to the hot seat.

In his conversation with Greg, Ian details the network transformation process for a multinational staffing agency.

An environment packed with knowledge workers and downtown office space, it sounds like an enviable position to be in as a WAN manager, no? But there's no shortage of lessons learned as the pair gets into pre-SD-WAN solutions, organizing major network transitions, overlay/underlay troubleshooting, and security strategy.

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Key Takeaways

Case Study: Migration to Cloud and SaaS Applications Drove Cost Savings

A major impetus for the network transformation was the company's migration of key applications, such as productivity suites like Office 365 and their recruitment management platform, to cloud and SaaS platforms.

This shift meant traffic previously going to on-premises data centers now needed to go to the internet, highlighting the inadequacy of the existing centralized MPLS-based internet breakouts in terms of size and location. The opportune end of their MPLS contract term allowed PageGroup to transition to a DIA-based underlay, resulting in significant cost savings compared to their previous MPLS expenses, even when factoring in the cost of an SD-WAN overlay and services.

Transitioning from Single MPLS to Regional Dual DIA Underlay with SD-WAN Overlay

The transformation involved moving away from a network based 100% on MPLS from a single global provider. The company opted for a best-of-breed approach, selecting different regional providers for high-quality Direct Internet Access (DIA) circuits, often dual DIA at sites.

This strategy was based on the understanding that quality DIA on tier-one backbones could provide MPLS-grade performance. An SD-WAN overlay was deployed on top of this DIA underlay, valued for its flexibility, agility, monitoring capabilities, and error correction features. This was integrated with a cloud internet security service that had already been implemented.

Cloud Adoption and Remote Work are Fundamentally Reshaping the Role of the Corporate Network

The increasing reliance on cloud-based applications (SaaS, Teams, Zoom) and the widespread adoption of remote work are prompting a fundamental re-evaluation of the necessity and design of the traditional corporate WAN.

With core services accessible directly over the internet and users working from home on residential broadband that is often sufficient for knowledge work, the need to connect users back to a central corporate network to access applications and data is diminishing.

This suggests the WAN's role may continue to evolve, potentially devolving or becoming less critical for connecting users to on-premises resources as those resources move to the cloud.