SD-WAN Solutions for Multi-Site Australian Businesses

If your Australian business operates across multiple locations — even just two offices — you know the pain of keeping them connected reliably. Traditional approaches like MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) work but come with high costs and long provisioning times. SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) is changing this equation, making enterprise-grade networking accessible to businesses that previously could not justify the cost.

This guide explains SD-WAN in practical terms for Australian SMBs and helps you decide if it is the right solution for your multi-site connectivity needs.

What SD-WAN Actually Does

At its core, SD-WAN creates an intelligent overlay network across your existing internet connections. Instead of relying on a single, expensive dedicated link between offices, SD-WAN uses multiple cheaper connections (NBN, 4G/5G, business ethernet) and intelligently routes traffic across them.

Traditional approach (MPLS):

• Dedicated private network between sites
• Guaranteed performance and reliability
• Expensive ($500 to $2,000+ per month per site)
• Long provisioning times (4 to 12 weeks)
• Single provider dependency

SD-WAN approach:

• Uses multiple internet connections (NBN, ethernet, 4G/5G)
• Software selects the best path for each application in real time
• Lower cost ($200 to $600 per month per site for connectivity, plus SD-WAN platform costs)
• Faster provisioning (days to weeks)
• Provider diversity reduces single-point-of-failure risk

How SD-WAN Works

Traffic steering: SD-WAN monitors the performance of each available connection (latency, jitter, packet loss) in real time. When you make a voice call, SD-WAN routes it over the connection with the lowest latency. When someone downloads a large file, it can use the connection with the most available bandwidth.

Application awareness: SD-WAN recognises different applications and applies policies accordingly. For example:

• Microsoft Teams video calls: Prioritise over the lowest-latency connection
• File backups: Use the connection with the most available bandwidth, even if latency is higher
• General web browsing: Use any available connection

Failover: If one connection fails, SD-WAN automatically shifts traffic to the remaining connections. Users typically experience no interruption for critical applications.

Encryption: SD-WAN creates encrypted tunnels between sites, so traffic travelling over the public internet is protected. This provides MPLS-like security over commodity internet connections.

Centralised management: All SD-WAN devices across your sites are managed from a single dashboard, usually cloud-hosted. This means your IT team (or MSP) can monitor and configure all locations from one place.

When SD-WAN Makes Sense for Australian SMBs

SD-WAN is not for every business. It makes the most sense when:

• You have two or more office locations that need reliable connectivity between them
• You rely on cloud applications (Microsoft 365, cloud ERP, cloud phone system) across multiple sites
• You use real-time applications (voice, video conferencing) that are sensitive to network quality
• Your current WAN costs are high (MPLS or dedicated links) and you want to reduce them
• You need redundancy and cannot afford downtime from a single connection failure
• You are expanding to new locations and need faster, more flexible provisioning

SD-WAN may be overkill if:

• You have a single office
• Your inter-site connectivity needs are minimal
• You only use basic internet for email and web browsing
• Your budget does not stretch to the SD-WAN platform cost on top of internet connections

SD-WAN Vendors for Australian SMBs

Fortinet Secure SD-WAN

Strengths:

• SD-WAN is built into FortiGate firewalls, so you get a firewall and SD-WAN in one device
• No additional licensing fee for SD-WAN features on FortiGate appliances (included with the security subscription)
• Strong security integration (NGFW, IPS, web filtering)
• Good performance and reliability

Considerations:

• Requires Fortinet hardware at each site
• More complex to configure than some purpose-built SD-WAN solutions
• Best suited for businesses already using or planning to use FortiGate firewalls

Cost: FortiGate hardware plus security subscription (approximately $900 to $1,500 per site for hardware, plus $500 to $800 per year for subscriptions). No additional SD-WAN licensing cost.

Cisco Meraki SD-WAN (MX Series)

Strengths:

• Extremely simple cloud management
• Easy to deploy (zero-touch provisioning)
• Good for businesses without dedicated networking staff
• Built-in security features

Considerations:

• Requires annual Meraki licensing (if the licence lapses, the device stops working)
• Less granular traffic steering than some competitors
• Higher ongoing cost due to mandatory licensing

Cost: Hardware plus annual licence (approximately $1,500 to $3,000 per site for hardware, plus $400 to $800 per year for licensing).

VMware SD-WAN (formerly VeloCloud)

Strengths:

• Strong application awareness and traffic steering
• Cloud-delivered orchestration and analytics
• Excellent multi-transport support
• Large global partner network

Considerations:

• Typically delivered through a managed service provider
• Higher cost than Fortinet for SMB deployments
• More suited to mid-market than small businesses

Cost: Typically $100 to $200 per site per month through an MSP, plus internet connectivity.

Cisco Viptela (Cisco SD-WAN)

Strengths:

• Enterprise-grade capabilities
• Deep integration with Cisco networking infrastructure
• Advanced analytics and visibility

Considerations:

• Complex to deploy and manage
• Higher cost and complexity than most SMBs need
• Best suited for businesses with existing Cisco infrastructure and networking expertise

Australian Managed SD-WAN Services

Several Australian telecommunications providers offer managed SD-WAN services, which may be the best option for SMBs without dedicated networking staff:

• Telstra SD-WAN: Managed service using various SD-WAN technologies. Bundled with Telstra connectivity.
• TPG/iiNet Business SD-WAN: Managed SD-WAN with TPG network connectivity.
• Macquarie Telecom: Managed SD-WAN focused on the mid-market and government sectors.
• Aussie Broadband Business: Growing business networking offering with SD-WAN capabilities.

Managed services handle the complexity of SD-WAN configuration and monitoring, but at a premium over self-managed solutions.

Designing Your SD-WAN Deployment

Internet Connectivity at Each Site

The foundation of SD-WAN is your underlying internet connections. For Australian sites, consider:

Primary connection: NBN Enterprise Ethernet or business-grade fibre. Provides consistent bandwidth and priority fault response. Cost: $200 to $800 per month depending on speed and SLA.

Secondary connection: Standard NBN business plan or a 4G/5G failover connection. Cost: $80 to $200 per month.

Why two connections? SD-WAN’s failover capability requires at least two connections per site. Using connections from different providers and technologies (for example, fibre plus 4G) provides the best resilience.

Bandwidth planning: For a typical office of 10 to 20 staff using cloud applications and video conferencing:

• Primary: 50/20 Mbps to 100/40 Mbps
• Secondary: 25/10 Mbps to 50/20 Mbps

Quality of Service (QoS) Configuration

Configure SD-WAN traffic priorities:

1. Highest priority: Voice (VoIP) and video conferencing
2. High priority: Business-critical cloud applications (ERP, CRM, accounting)
3. Medium priority: Email and general business applications
4. Low priority: Software updates, backups, non-essential web browsing

Security Integration

SD-WAN does not replace your firewall — it complements it. Ensure your SD-WAN deployment includes:

• Encrypted tunnels between all sites
• Firewall inspection of traffic entering and leaving each site
• Web filtering and threat prevention at each site (or via a centralised security stack)
• Segmentation between business and guest traffic

If using Fortinet SD-WAN, these security features are built into the FortiGate. For other SD-WAN solutions, ensure you have adequate security appliances at each site.

Migration Strategy

Migrating from your current WAN to SD-WAN should be planned carefully.

Phase 1: Preparation (2 to 4 weeks)

• Audit current connectivity at each site
• Order secondary internet connections if needed
• Procure and configure SD-WAN equipment
• Define traffic steering policies

Phase 2: Parallel operation (2 to 4 weeks)

• Deploy SD-WAN alongside existing WAN
• Route non-critical traffic through SD-WAN while critical traffic stays on the existing WAN
• Monitor performance and tune policies
• Train IT staff on the new management platform

Phase 3: Cutover (1 week)

• Move all traffic to SD-WAN
• Monitor closely for issues
• Keep existing WAN available as a fallback for 30 days

Phase 4: Decommission (after 30 days)

• Remove old WAN connections
• Realise cost savings

Cost Comparison

For an Australian business with three office locations:

Traditional MPLS:

• 3 sites x $800/month = $2,400/month
• Plus internet access at each site: 3 x $150/month = $450/month
• Total: approximately $2,850/month

SD-WAN with dual internet:

• Primary internet: 3 x $300/month = $900/month
• Secondary internet: 3 x $100/month = $300/month
• SD-WAN platform (Fortinet): amortised hardware and licensing approximately $200/month
• Total: approximately $1,400/month

Savings: approximately $1,450/month ($17,400/year)

These savings increase with more sites and can be even greater if your current MPLS costs are higher.

Monitoring and Management

Once deployed, SD-WAN requires ongoing monitoring:

• Real-time dashboard: Monitor connection health, application performance, and failover events
• Monthly review: Analyse bandwidth utilisation, identify traffic trends, and adjust policies
• Quarterly review: Assess whether bandwidth needs have changed, review security policies
• Annual review: Evaluate vendor relationship, assess new features, and review costs against alternatives

SD-WAN transforms multi-site networking for Australian businesses by providing better performance, more resilience, and lower costs than traditional approaches. For any business with two or more locations, it deserves serious consideration.