Academy - WAN: How to choose an MPLS provider

Network Design

There is more to delivering an MPLS network than simply providing the circuits. Network performance is critical for the responsive applications that your users need to run your business, but many suppliers struggle to deliver performance beyond the systems they have sold.

You run a WAN so that your people can run applications, but you only get the benefits of the applications if they perform well for your users. So if your new MPLS network is to give you what you want, you’ll need to design it to support the users, the applications they’re using and your priorities.

Here are some questions you might ask:

Do you design around the users, the applications they run and the bandwidth requirement that each has, so I can be confident that my users will get the performance they need?
Do you check how your MPLS design will integrate with my existing infrastructure?
Will you monitor and manage any circuits and devices that you have not provided, to ensure you can give a single view of your whole network (which is vital for driving performance)?