MPLS remains the VPN of choice for enterprise networks that support business critical applications. However, MPLS is also expensive, complex to deploy and inflexible, which will not cut it for the cloud first requirements of next generation enterprise networking. The pandemic underscored the business case for the cloud: public cloud vendors were in the frontline of the emergency response, providing applications and services to keep businesses running as they scrambled to reorganise the workforce, reconfigure the supply chain and find new ways to stay connected to customers.
As cloud providers continue to invest heavily in compute power and connectivity, we can foresee a time when enterprises will outsource all but the strategic management and control of their networks, when capacity can be scaled up and down as needed, when everything will be virtualised and almost all aspects of IT will be delivered as a service.
If the ultimate destination is clear, the journey is not. The reality is that many MPLS customers are not ready to entrust everything to the cloud, where performance, security and management issues continue to weigh in the balance against low cost. For the next few years, custom hybrid network implementations will increase.
The travel arrangements for the future will centre on the SD-WAN players and the new generation of cloud networking vendors, vying to open migration routes that help the enterprise to integrate multiple connection types, rapidly turn on new capacity and assure the performance of critical applications. Customers will continue to seek guarantees of security, better return on investment, reduced complexity and improved management and control. Above all, they will demand clear migration paths that allow them to embrace the opportunities of the cloud while unwinding investments in existing networks.
This event, chaired by Erin Dunne, Director of Research Services, Vertical Systems Group, will consider the migration issues for enterprise customers and providers, including Telcos offering new value-added services alongside MPLS, plus the solutions offered by SD-WAN system vendors and the new generation of Cloud Networks and Services now entering the market..
Hot topics covered in this event:
- What are the top vertical industries and applications driving migration now from MPLS to cloud?
- What are the primary challenges for customer migration to cloud networks and services?
- How will the supplier landscape for cloud networking services evolve in the next two years?
- How has the global pandemic impacted demand for network services – and what is the longer term post-COVID outlook?
Analyst Chair: Erin Dunne, Director of Research Services, Vertical Systems Group
Ashwath Nagaraj, Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, Aryaka
Song Toh, Vice President, Global Network Services, Tata Communications
Mike Frane, Vice President Product Management, Windstream Enterprise
Broadcast Materials
Migrating MPLS Networks to the New Era of Cloud Networking – Final Transcript
