The document discusses SD-WAN and provides insights from industry experts on the benefits of SD-WAN including cost reductions, improved application performance, and increased security and agility. It outlines the growing SD-WAN market and common SD-WAN architectures. It also provides guidance from analysts on SD-WAN considerations for enterprises and recommendations on SD-WAN evaluation and adoption.

1. Emily Pechal Paul Detiveaux
Sr. Global Account Executive Sr. Network Solutions Engineer
512.743.7269 | Emily.Pechal@CenturyLink.com Paul.Detiveaux@Centurylink.com
SD-WAN
Executive Brief

2. The Case for SD-WAN: Insights from Industry Experts
 “The drivers for enterprises to deploy SD-WAN are clear: agility with reduced costs. Automating WAN
operations (69% of SD-WAN evaluating or implementing respondents), improving application performance, and
branch office security (67%) are all necessary for agility.” HIS
2
 “SD-WAN revenues will exceed $6 billion in 2020 with a
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 90% over the
2015-2020 forecast period.” IDC
 “By the end of 2019, 30% of Enterprises will use SD-WAN
products in all their branches, up from less than 1% today”
Gartner
 “Enterprises adopting hybrid cloud must give careful and
thorough consideration to a WAN strategy that offers the’ same
sort of operational efficiencies and business agility that they seek
to derive from SDN in the enterprise datacenter and the campus.
An SD-WAN provides the complementary missing piece or
capstone for hybrid cloud application delivery.” IDC

3. Emerging SD-WAN Market Landscape
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Source: IDC, 2016

4. SD-WAN Architecture
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SD-WAN CPE
(Physical or Virtual) MPLS
Internet
Wireless
SD-WAN CPE
(Physical or Virtual)
SD-WAN CPE
(Physical or Virtual)
SD-WAN CPE
(Physical or Virtual)
SD-WAN CPE
(Physical or Virtual)
SD-WAN
Controller
Small
Branch
Medium
Branch
Large
Branch
Headquarters Data Center
Source: Frost & Sullivan, 2016
GUI-Based
Management
Supporting All Enterprise Applications

5. Gartner Key Findings & Recommendations
5
Per Gartner “Market Guide for Software-Defined WAN “ December, 2015
Key Findings
•Enterprises are seeking branch office WAN solutions that can lower capital investments as well
as simplify operations.
•The software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) market is evolving quickly with multiple vendors entering
the market, including large networking vendors, focused WAN specialists and venture-funded
startups.
•SD-WAN solutions from the vendors in this research can simplify the operation of WANs, but all
lack various feature, such as a broad range of hardware platforms.
Recommendations
• Enterprises should take advantage of increased vendor and price competition over the next 12
to 24 months to negotiate pricing.
• Enterprises should look beyond their traditionally preferred vendors and evaluate solutions
from emerging vendors to fully take advantage of innovations.
•SD-WAN should be implemented as part of a comprehensive WAN architecture, which should
include network service chaining both on-site and in the cloud.

6. IDC Guidance for Enterprise Buyers
6
Per IDC “Cloud and Drive for WAN Efficiencies Power Move to SD-WAN” , 2016
Guidance for Enterprise Buyers
Although SD-WAN borrows the core principles of SDN, its value proposition for enterprises stands on its own. In
fact, IDC expects that many enterprises that adopt SD-WAN may not yet have made meaningful strides toward SDN
in their datacenters. SD-WAN offers compelling value for its ability to defray MPLS costs, simplify and automate
WAN operations, improve application traffic management, and dynamically deliver on the cost and efficiency
benefits associated with intelligent path selection.
SD-WAN will be particularly relevant for enterprises that have adopted or are adopting hybrid cloud and especially
those that are availing themselves of SaaS application services. In these cases, there is a strong motivation to
reassess WAN architectures used for application delivery. What made eminent sense on the WAN when
client/server applications were housed exclusively in an enterprise datacenter does not make sense when
applications reside in the public cloud as well as in the enterprise datacenter or a private cloud. Hybrid cloud
demands a policy-based approach to application delivery at branch offices and remote sites, one that potentially
leverages broadband Internet and 4G (LTE) technologies as well as traditional VPNs and MPLS.
In this context, enterprises also can use SD-WAN to balance loads across the WAN or to monitor application
performance and send traffic over cost-optimal or the most reliable WAN links, depending on application
requirements. Similarly, enterprises using cloud-based applications can benefit from SD-WAN's ability to route traffic
to and from cloud services and branch locations.
Enterprises facing skills gaps or resource constraints will want to consider CSP SD-WAN managed services, which
reduce management overhead and related costs by providing comprehensive deployment and management of SD-
WAN solutions, typically based on product offerings from market- leading SD-WAN vendors.

7. PREMIUM includes all private features, plus:
• Secure Internet access at each site
• Groups and zones
• Ability to chain service requests
• Detailed analytics
• Performance tuning
PRIVATE includes all components for
building a private network between locations:
• Site equipment
• Software licenses
• Management portal
• Use of infrastructure controllers
• Zero-touch installation
• Ongoing configuration assistance
• Standard reporting package
CenturyLink SD-WAN Packages
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8. Supported Use Case
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C O M P L E T E M I G R AT I O N S
A F T E R : A L L S D - WA NB E F O R E : A L L M P L S

9. Supported Use Case
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A F T E R : H Y B R I D M P L S + S D - WA NB E F O R E : D U A L M P L S
U S I N G S D - WA N F O R H I G H - S P E E D , L O W - C O S T B A C K U P

10. The Hybrid Use Case
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H Y B R I D ( S O M E ) M P L S & ( S O M E ) S D - WA N
B R I D G I N G E X I S T I N G + N E W T O G E T H E R S E A M L E S S LY

11. • There are no onboarding costs or ongoing obligations
• Instant access to our Architecture and Support Teams
• With CenturyLink SD-WAN devices at the edge of your network, you’ll see
immediate improvements in bandwidth, visibility, control, and costs
• Ask your Account Manager to try CenturyLink SD-WAN today
CenturyLink Proof of Concept Offer
11
Test out CenturyLink SD-WAN and see #InstantlyBetter for yourself
We’ll provide the hardware, software, licenses, and
management—you just bring your network!
Terms & Conditions Apply
Trial Offer: Requires signed 90-day trial agreement. Qualifying business customers only. Services not
available everywhere. Additional restrictions apply. See trial agreement for full offer terms and conditions.