How do you plan managed WAN?
The short answer
Inventory site applications, current circuits, carrier contracts, and outage history first. Define what each location needs during normal service and an interruption, then compare connectivity and backup options against those requirements. Assign gateway and carrier responsibilities, plan migration around contract and installation dependencies, and test the agreed routing and recovery behavior before handover.
Answered by Jim Mazzarella, CEO & Managing Partner
Start with business continuity requirements
Ask each site which applications must remain usable and what reduced operation would be acceptable. Record remote access, voice, payment, or other application dependencies without assuming they behave identically on a backup connection. Require providers to explain any proposed diversity and identify dependencies they have not verified.
Coordinate the technical and commercial transition
- Collect circuit identifiers, handoff details, contracts, renewal dates, and contacts
- Agree on primary and backup requirements for each site and application
- Review gateway configuration, addressing, routing, and third-party coordination
- Schedule installation, testing, cutover, and rollback before retiring old service
- Document monitoring, escalation, acceptance results, and ongoing contract ownership
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