1. Goals and Objectives
Project(s): Technical Specification for SD-WAN Service Definition Purpose of the contribution: To describe the proposal and have an approval for the project Abstract: Definition of SD-WAN Service and its Attributes Motion: Yes. To approve the creation of this project

2. New Project Proposal Technical Specification SD-WAN Service Definition
Joe Ruffles – Riverbed
Tim van Herck – Velocloud
October, 2017

3. Motivation
There is currently no industry-accepted definition of SD-WAN Services.
As the industry transitions to virtualized and software-defined technologies, and ultimately to ‘MEF 3.0’ Network as a Service, there is heightened industry attention on SD-WAN.
Customers want the benefits of SD-WAN from a responsible party who can reliably deliver performant, secure, assured access to applications wherever they are hosted – in their own data center, a cloud provider, or elsewhere.
To meet customer demand for agile, economical, end-to-end services and application delivery, Service Providers (SPs) need standards of capability and standards of inter-operator and multi-vendor interoperability.
Having interoperability and quality standards will enable the industry to capitalize on the opportunities offered by this technology inflection point while underpinning innovation.
Those SPs that can offer a service that is certified against a recognized industry standard will have a competitive advantage.

4. Scope
Definition of SD-WAN Service functionality and related terminology
Definition of SD-WAN Service components and placement into MEF 55 LSO framework
SD-WAN Service Framework
Functional components that are combined to create an SD-WAN Service, e.g.
policy (e.g., QoS/Security/Business Priority) based forwarding by application or application type, dynamic path selection, security, transport (underlay) independent virtual overlays, etc.
Description of Service Attributes for each functional component of an SD-WAN Service
Non-normative use cases will be included

5. Broad Market Potential
SD-WAN Technology and Services Market Poised to Reach $6 billion by 2020 (IDC)
SD-WAN: Entry Point For Software-Defined Everything (Forbes)
Spending on SD-WAN products will grow from $129 million in 2016 to $1.24 billion in (Gartner)
SD-WAN-as-a-Service is appealing to end users and enterprises that don’t want to manage their WAN network or applications, and would prefer to outsource these services to a service provider. For service providers, SD-WAN-as-a-Service is viewed a new revenue opportunity. (SDxCentral)

6. Compatibility
Leverage as appropriate and always remain compatible with LSO Reference Architecture (MEF 55) and ongoing work on IP Service Attributes.
The SD-WAN Service specification will be developed in conjunction and cooperation with other MEF groups working on topics such as
Intent
Telemetry and Network Data Analytics (PNDA)
Policy and Policy Defined Orchestration
End-to-End Quality of Experience
IP Service Attributes
The SD-WAN Service specification work will inform and leverage these efforts, not duplicate them.

7. Distinct Identity
Business Requirements and Use Cases for SD-WAN Service are being defined in the OpenCS SD-WAN group
These will be formalized as the requirements for, and will form the basis of, the SD-WAN Service Technical Specification
The requirements for SD-WAN Service touch many areas necessary for assured end-to-end Application Delivery, regardless of where the application is hosted
These requirements include Traffic Steering, Policy, Assurance, Security, and WAN Optimization in addition to underlying basics of connectivity

8. Technical Feasibility
This project aims to standardize and improve practices emerging in SPs.
This project is a formalization of the work of the OpenCS SD- WAN group, comprising SPs and vendors, which is bringing the SD-WAN community together and defining common attributes. The SPs and vendors of the group believe that it is feasible.
The recently published Understanding SD-WAN Managed Services white paper has already set the direction.

9. Sponsorship Confirmed sponsors: Cox Fujitsu GBI Huawei Nokia Riverbed
Velocloud

10. Deliverables
Deliverable: a Technical Specification for SD-WAN Service that will include:
Definition of SD-WAN Service, Service Components and Service capabilities (attributes)
Builds on and formalizes the description the white paper Understanding SD-WAN Managed Services
Describes, in greater detail, SD-WAN service capabilities such as Application Steering, Security, Policy, virtual overlays, and WAN Optimization
Non-normative Illustrative Use Cases
Demonstrates how the service addresses the different use cases
SD-WAN Service Component Mapping to LSO Reference Architecture
Shows how the the service components map into the MEF 55 LSO Reference Architecture.

11. Schedule (Proposed) SD-WAN Service Definition Technical Specification
At least two Call for Comments (CY Q2 2018, CY Q4 2018)
Letter Ballot MEF Q1 2019

12. Motion
Move:
Second:
Voting: