Migration & Business Case¶

This chapter addresses MPLS-to-SD-WAN migration strategies, site-by-site migration procedures, rollback planning, financial analysis (TCO/ROI), business case development, vendor selection, and post-migration optimization.

Chapter Overview¶

Migrating from traditional MPLS to SD-WAN requires careful planning and execution. This chapter provides migration strategies including:

MPLS migration approaches and patterns
Site-by-site migration procedures
Testing and rollback procedures
TCO and ROI financial analysis
Business case development
Hardware refresh and circuit migration strategies

Sections in This Chapter¶

7.1 Migration Strategy Overview - Migration approaches and methodologies
7.2 MPLS Migration - MPLS decommissioning strategies
7.3 Site-by-Site Migration Plan - Detailed migration procedures
7.4 Rollback Procedures - Fallback and recovery strategies
7.5 Testing & Validation - Migration testing frameworks
7.6 TCO Analysis - Total Cost of Ownership calculation
7.7 ROI Calculation - Return on Investment modeling
7.8 Business Case Development - Executive business case
7.9 Vendor Selection - Vendor evaluation criteria
7.10 Training Plan - Team training and enablement
7.11 Hardware Refresh Strategy - Device lifecycle planning
7.12 Circuit Migration Procedures - Transport migration steps
7.13 Post-Migration Optimization - Performance tuning after migration

Migration Patterns¶

Greenfield Deployment: New sites deployed directly with SD-WAN
Brownfield Migration: Gradual replacement of existing WAN infrastructure
Hybrid Operation: Parallel operation during transition
Big Bang Cutover: Coordinated simultaneous migration (high risk)
Phased Rollout: Incremental migration by site tier (recommended)

Financial Analysis¶

This chapter includes comprehensive financial models demonstrating: - MPLS cost baseline vs SD-WAN operational costs - Hardware refresh and licensing investment - ROI projection over 3-5 years - Break-even analysis and payback period

Part of: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Implementation Guide | Previous: ← Operations | Next: Advanced Features →