The first challenge in sourcing internet is deciding what you need. Finding a balance between cost and performance is so important because in an internet world, you're going to have a lot more choice than in an MPLS world.
This advice comes from Globalinternet Chief Portfolio Officer Mike Lloyd.
Mike joined Greg on this week's podcast to talk about, naturally, sourcing internet. They zero in on the biggest challenges in sourcing and the most efficient solutions Mike has seen when it comes to buying internet from ISPs around the globe.
Adding internet as part of a hybrid MPLS solution? Adding a second line for SD-WAN or local breakouts for SaaS applications? Ditching MPLS altogether? The modern WAN increasingly includes internet alongside or in place of these traditional telco services. And these two have seen it all.
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The shift is driven primarily by cost savings and the ability to increase bandwidth significantly. Data from TeleGeography's WAN manager survey indicates that while MPLS still holds a larger share, the use of Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and business broadband is growing, with some enterprises already relying entirely on internet connectivity.
A hypothetical network comparison suggests that DIA is generally cheaper than MPLS, and broadband is even cheaper than DIA, often by orders of magnitude, allowing for potential cost reductions of 40-60% or more even with increased bandwidth. This trend is seen across various sectors like manufacturing, high-tech, retail, professional services, and finance.
Unlike dealing with a single or a few global telcos for MPLS, sourcing internet involves managing potentially dozens or hundreds of local ISPs across different countries.
Key challenges include deciding on the right product (balancing cost vs. performance like DIA vs. Broadband), dealing with inconsistent product definitions, unpredictable availability at specific locations, navigating diverse ordering processes and portals, dealing with local languages, managing different time zones, and handling day-to-day issues like testing, turnup, billing, and break/fix across a large, diverse supplier base.
Specific regions like China, Latin America, and Middle East/Africa present unique difficulties related to regulation, local infrastructure, language barriers, and establishing trusted relationships.
While static IP addresses and available product type are important factors, for some enterprises, having a Tier 1 provider was crucial for traffic routing.
However, Tier 1 providers typically offer backbone connectivity but may have limited local presence, potentially adding latency and cost for locally rooted traffic, which is likely the majority. Smart selection of local ISPs with dense local infrastructure, good peering arrangements with Tier 1 networks, and direct connections into local cloud services (like Azure, AWS, Google) is often key to achieving optimal performance and cost-effectiveness for most business sites.