SD-WAN ROI-A Financial Evaluation Guide for CFOs

Abstract

In this article, we will explore the financial aspects of Software Defined Wide Area Network (SDWAN) deployments through a critical cost analysis lens and discuss how uneducated IT heads and pushy salesmen often mislead organisational leadership in the cost savings of SDWAN deployments. The study indicates that the financial benefits of SDWAN are directly tied to how dependent an organisation is on cloud services and that SDWAN implementations can be financially beneficial only when there are significant workloads in cloud services. Studies have shown that organisations that are less than 40% cloud dependent are likely to see a net loss of money after implementing SDWAN, despite what the salesman would have them believe during the sales pitch. The article offers detailed calculation frameworks that can be used by financial teams to independently determine savings claims, red flags within IT proposals and concrete thresholds to make IT investment decisions for SDWAN. Readers learn about the various costs involved, such as MPLS contracts, bandwidth, equipment depreciation, and operational expenses, and thereby have the tools to question assumptions made by the IT leadership. The analysis sets the stage for the right SDWAN implementation timing, based on tangible cloud migration milestones instead of vendor marketing cycles or IT departmental preferences. Financial professionals who finish this article will have the information they need to avoid investing too early or incorrectly in SDWAN, thus avoiding major capital erosion