It can be hard for smaller enterprises to find the right vendor, particularly when there are so many SD-WAN vendors flooding the market.

MNJ Technologies (a Buffalo Grove-based managed services provider (MSP)) is trying to make this decision easier. The company opened a proof-of-concept (PoC), demo lab in the Chicago suburbs, where customers could see how the seven leading SD-WAN vendors fare under different scenarios. It’s sort of like speed dating in SD-WAN.

In an interview with SDxCentral, Ben Niernberg (EVP at MNJ Technologies), stated that not all SD-WANs are created equal. They all have their own unique ways of handling traffic and working.

Niernberg said that not everything vendors claim about their products is true in the real world.

In an effort to stand out from other MSPs, the company made it easy for customers to test before buying.

Agnostic SD-WAN Testing Ground

Niernberg stated, “What we did was to create an agnostic SDWAN testing ground where customers could come in and can agnostically try all the products.”

MNJ says customers can see how any SD-WAN vendor in the portfolio — Fortinet and Cisco Viptela, Meraki, Oracle Talari and Silver Peak, Versa and CloudGenix — handles security, latency, and failover.

Niernberg stated that customers can be contacted via their cellphones and watch the plug being pulled. He also said that it is possible to see how different products work, how fast they are back up and running, and how they work.

According to Niernberg, the lab’s results have been impressive since its launch in early 2019. Niernberg estimates that 70% of customers come to the lab with only one or two SDWAN vendors in mind, while 30% leave with another vendor.

MNJ claims that the lab eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming on-premise PoCs for many customers. The PoC process is also shortened by up to 9 months to 90 days.

MNJ also benefits from these advantages. MNJ is better equipped to offer customer service and reduce the amount of troubleshooting required by other MSPs. Niernberg stated that MNJ can often identify a problem in a customer’s network before they even know it.

He said, “Everyone can talk and walk the talk.” “I believe the ability to show and walk the talk and to be able to physically demonstrate to them that we not only say it but also live it and breathe it every day, is a game-changer.

Read the original article here.