Hybrid WAN combines private circuits (MPLS) and public internet (broadband, fiber, LTE) into a unified, policy-driven network — giving enterprises the performance and predictability of dedicated connectivity where it's required alongside the cost efficiency of internet transport for less-sensitive traffic.
Hybrid WAN is the pragmatic middle ground between full MPLS (expensive) and broadband-only SD-WAN (potential performance risk) — but the optimal hybrid architecture depends on your application mix, geographic footprint, and risk tolerance, which requires objective advisory to get right.
A structured advisory process — from discovery and market evaluation to vendor selection and post-deployment optimization — tailored to your specific environment and objectives.
We classify your applications by sensitivity and your sites by business criticality — identifying which combinations require dedicated circuit components and which can safely rely on broadband-only connectivity.
We design the hybrid WAN architecture — which sites retain MPLS, what broadband capacity supplements or replaces it, how SD-WAN overlay policies divide traffic between private and public paths, and the redundancy design for each site tier.
Hybrid WAN requires coordinated procurement across MPLS and broadband providers. We manage the competitive sourcing process across both circuit types — including carrier evaluation, pricing negotiation, and contract coordination.
Moving from full-MPLS to hybrid WAN involves circuit additions, SD-WAN deployment, and phased traffic migration. We design the transition plan that captures cost savings progressively while protecting application performance throughout.
These are the dimensions that consistently separate successful network deployments from costly ones — and the questions RLM will help you answer before any commitment.
Hybrid WAN requires clear policy for which traffic goes where. Evaluate the routing policy framework for segmenting sensitive applications to private circuits vs. routing cloud-bound and bulk traffic over broadband.
Hybrid WAN broadband components are only as reliable as the underlying ISP. Evaluate broadband provider quality in each specific market — reliability and performance vary dramatically by location and provider.
What happens when the MPLS component fails? Evaluate the SD-WAN failover behavior — whether sensitive applications automatically fail to broadband or hold until MPLS recovers — and whether that behavior is acceptable for your applications.
Hybrid WAN requires modeling MPLS cost reduction against broadband addition costs and SD-WAN platform fees. Evaluate the multi-year TCO including contract overlap periods and technology refresh costs.
Hybrid WAN increases carrier relationship complexity — multiple carriers, contract terms, and support relationships per location. Evaluate the operational overhead of managing a more complex carrier portfolio.
Hybrid WAN must integrate with cloud connectivity (Direct Connect, ExpressRoute) for cloud-bound traffic. Evaluate the cloud on-ramp architecture and how private circuit and broadband paths hand off to cloud connectivity.
"RLM gave us an objective view of our network options that no single vendor could. We replaced aging MPLS across 40 locations and came in 28% under our original budget."
"The RLM team understood our network complexity from day one. Their vendor-neutral approach helped us find the right solution — not just the one with the biggest marketing budget."
Start with a no-cost conversation with an RLM network advisor — vendor neutral, no agenda, just clarity on the right path forward for your environment.
Speak to a Network Advisor