INTERVIEW Martin Saunders - Highlight
“They just have to understand the SD-WAN beast, and work with it rather than be scared of it.”
Martin Saunders, Product Director - Highlight
SD-WAN Transparency
Comms Business talks to Martin Saunders, Product Director at Highlight, about how Service Providers can
maximise the SD-WAN opportunity in a way which avoids the need for them to support multiple SD-WAN
vendors but still lets them add real value
Martin Saunders sees
the growth in the
SD-WAN market as
exciting for Service
Providers, saying, “ is is
exciting - there is always
opportunity in change,
and the rst providers to
understand, embrace and
exploit this seismic shift,
and it really is on that scale,
will do well. ey just have
to understand the SD-WAN
beast, and work with it rather
than be scared of it.
Highlight has been
interested in the SD-WAN
market for quite a while. Over
several years we have learnt
to have a wider think about
connectivity and SD-WAN
and believe that when it
comes to SD-Wans the SP has
become more vocal about the
role that an MSP has to play.”
In fact, Highlight is more
interested in the service than
the technology and is working
with vendors such as Gamma
and Claranet and see four
problems with SD-WANs that
they are being told about.
Is there enough data to hand
to scope out an SD-WAN?
Most rms approach the
prospect of getting an SDWAN
on the myth of making
cost savings. Cost saving are
not so apparent in Europe
compared to the US and here
we are seeing interest in some
form of hybrid, say multiple
connections but SPs say this
is all well and good but what
are the real requirements
and outcomes the user is
looking for? Will applications
performance be improved? It’s
essential that a pre-assessment
is carried out.
Are you able to see the
underlay technology in the
same view as the overlay
network?
It would be fair to say the
portals are quite revolutionary
in terms of seeing applications
usage – the apps running in
the o ce, but broadly speaking
not good at showing what’s
happening on the underlay,
e.g. the performance of the
connectivity. erefore, most
SD-WAN portals have no idea
where the problems are. What
you need is a single pane of
glass with which to see underlay
and overlay otherwise the user
will have to go back and forth
between suppliers to see where
the problems are occurring.
Highlight provides that
visibility.
Management of the SD-WAN
technology itself, but existing
portals don’t cater for Service
Providers.
Portals have been evolving for
some time but were simplistic
to start with. Managed Service
Providers tend to be able to
see the overlay and all the
hardware it sits on, but users
and Service Providers want to
see application management.
For MSPs the bigger margins
are in the key apps the user has
and in coming up with a design
that works well for the user that
delivers performance. At this
level of SLA, you are selling
outcomes.
is is an application
discussion rather that one of
lines and kit. Using Highlight
will show that application level
and provide the evidence of
service levels being achieved.
is is a big shift for MSPs to
get their head around over the
Martin Saunders, Product Director of Highlight
next couple of years.
The multi-vendor question
Right now, Service Providers are
launching with their vendors of
choice, often based just on their
relationships. is is however an
exceptionally customer driven
market; a user may insist on
using say Cisco Meraki and to
get the deal the SP must comply.
However, some Enterprises that
have a strong opinion of what
vendor they would are getting
dragged into multi-vendor
scenarios. Highlight is of course
looking to be SP agnostic and
train sta on the Highlight view.
We started with Meraki by the
way.
ED SAYS…
The SD-WAN market is more complex than
many would assume from fi rst glance. It
is however, in our opinion, tailor made for
Managed Services Providers who can bring
together all the elements needed to make a
successful migration and Highlight will provide
them that vital overlay/underlay view required
to achieve the SLAs needed for effective
business applications outcomes.
34 | Comms Business Magazine | April 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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