If you run more than one office, the circuit between them is probably your biggest recurring network bill. SD-WAN can cut that cost and add a second path for resilience, but it does not replace MPLS everywhere. Here is how to tell which one fits each site.
What MPLS still does well
MPLS gives you a single carrier, a contracted latency target, and class-of-service for voice and video. For a busy contact centre or a trading desk, that predictable path is worth paying for, and one provider owns the whole problem when something breaks.
Where SD-WAN wins
SD-WAN bonds two or more cheap internet links, steers traffic by application, and reaches cloud services directly instead of hauling them back to head office. For most branch sites the result is more bandwidth, a backup path, and a lower bill. We size this around your real traffic in our networking practice, not a brochure.
How to choose
Keep MPLS where a hard latency guarantee earns its cost, and move everything else to SD-WAN. Most Canadian mid-market firms land on a hybrid: a contracted link to one or two critical sites, SD-WAN over internet for the rest.
