SD-WAN & Multi-Location Networking
Multi-location networking that behaves like one network.
SD-WAN connects your sites over the internet connections you already buy — centrally managed, cloud-aware, with automatic failover. We source the platforms and the circuits underneath them, and coordinate the rollout site by site.
SD-WAN vs MPLS
An honest comparison, not a migration pitch.
If you run MPLS today, you've probably been told to dump it. The truth is more boring: each approach has a job it does well, and the right answer depends on your traffic, your sites, and your contracts.
Swipe to compare
| MPLS | SD-WAN | |
|---|---|---|
| How traffic moves | Private carrier circuits between sites, with traffic typically backhauled through a data center. | Software steers traffic over ordinary internet connections (broadband, fiber, LTE), directly to cloud services. |
| Where it shines | Predictable performance for site-to-site traffic and applications that cannot tolerate jitter. | Cloud-heavy workloads, mixed connection types, and adding sites quickly without waiting on private circuits. |
| Where it hurts | Long install lead times, less flexibility per site, and bandwidth that tends to cost more per Mbps. | Performance rides on the underlying internet connections — a poor circuit is still a poor circuit. |
| The honest take | Still defensible for some site-to-site-heavy operations; not automatically obsolete. | The default conversation for most multi-site businesses today — but worth pricing, not assuming. |
When It Makes Sense
Four situations where SD-WAN earns its keep.
Three or more locations
Separately bought internet contracts per site get inconsistent and expensive. SD-WAN puts them under one policy.
Cloud-heavy operations
If your applications live in the cloud, backhauling traffic through one office is a detour. SD-WAN routes direct.
Failover that must work
SD-WAN blends two connections per site — wired plus wireless — and fails over automatically when one drops.
An MPLS renewal is near
An MPLS contract approaching renewal is the natural moment to price SD-WAN against renewing what you have.
What We Coordinate
Circuits, platform, rollout — one owner.
An SD-WAN project is really three procurements at once: the internet circuits at each address, the SD-WAN platform and hardware, and the rollout work itself. We source all three across available supplier channels, sequence the installs so sites cut over one at a time, and own the escalations when a circuit build slips. The result lands on your connectivity renewal calendar like everything else.
If security consolidation is on your roadmap, SASE — security functions delivered from the cloud on top of the SD-WAN fabric — can be part of the same sourcing conversation, alongside our cybersecurity desk.
FAQ
Straight answers on SD-WAN.
Review your multi-site network.
Tell us your locations and what they run on today — a SwitchU advisor will come back within one business day.