In our previous blog, we spoke about the five business-boosting benefits of managed SD-WAN and left you with a point to ponder: does the rise of SD-WAN mean the immediate removal of MPLS? Well, yes and no.
Yes, because more and more companies are moving away from MPLS-based technology, and no because this isn’t a quick transition that will happen overnight. According to a 2017 report by Africa Analysis, MPLS is still widely used by enterprises in South Africa. However, they found that MPLS has more than likely reached its peak and that by 2022 its use will drastically start to decline. SD-WAN, on the other hand, is taking an opposite trajectory course and will see greater adoption in years to come. You can view a great chart on the expected lifecycle of Internet VPN, MPLS and SD-WAN here to see how they compare when it comes to introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
How enterprises are mitigating MPLS
As we’ve mentioned before, MPLS comes with many cost and performance frustrations. Enterprises are using more and more cloud-based applications and interfaces that the backhauling nature of MPLS simply can’t keep up with. Not only are these links expensive but they put a lot of pressure on an already-strained MPLS network. But moving away from an MPLS network isn’t something that can be done in a day.