What is Virgin Media Business SD‑WAN
Virgin Media O2 provides managed Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solutions, combining SD-WAN overlays from some of the industries leading vendors (Versa Networks, VMware VeloCloud, Cisco Meraki and Fortinet) with Virgin Media's network infrastructure (broadband and leased lines) as the underlay connectivity into a single service.
The service is delivered as a fully managed solution, meaning Virgin Media handles the design, deployment, and ongoing management of both the SD-WAN solution and underlying connections. This approach positions Virgin Media as a single point of contact for network connectivity and management, creating a complete digital transformation that moves away from traditional WAN solutions and provides a more scalable network architecture, greater performance, improved security and more reliable access.
Deployment Models of Virgin SD-WAN
Virgin Media Business offers two primary deployment models to accommodate different requirements and technical capabilities – fully managed SD-WAN service or a co-managed SD-WAN architecture.
With fully managed models, Virgin Media handles everything from deployment to configuring, monitoring and troubleshooting of both the SD-WAN and the underlying connectivity. This model suits organisations that prefer to outsource network management entirely or for organisations that lack the internal expertise.
However, for those that do, the co-managed model allows customer IT teams to share management responsibilities with Virgin Media Business. Customers receive access to cloud-based dashboards where they can monitor network performance, adjust policies and make configuration changes whilst Virgin Media continues to provide the connectivity infrastructure and initial setup. This model is typically offered through specific service packages and appeals to organisations with existing network expertise who require greater visibility and control over their network operations.
Given their differing levels of customer involvement, it's essential for IT decision-makers to decide which model best suits their businesses' use case, the level of technical expertise they possess and the benefits of each model.
Key Benefits of Virgin Media's Managed SD-WAN Architecture
One of the key selling points of Virgin Media’s managed SD-WAN is that it includes both network underlay connectivity and SD-WAN overlay as an integrated solution, unlike many other SD-WAN vendors that only provide the SD-WAN solution over-the-top.
This full-package approach creates single billing for all of the connectivity, the SD-WAN edge devices installed at sites, engineer configuration processes, as well as continuous 24/7 monitoring and support, therefore providing value when compared to DIY or non-bundled service offerings.
Further cost-efficiency can be seen via lower operational expenses, with the managed service model removing the complexity of managing routing policies, security rules and firmware updates from internal IT teams.
Finally, through using a single point for all services, in the event of an unexpected issue, Virgin Media Business can quickly handle the entire problem through their regular performance reporting, proactive monitoring for issues and coordinated responses, leading to quicker problem resolutions – a worthy consideration given UnityConnect reported that the cost of IT downtime can range from $5,600 per minute to $9,000 per minute based on industry vertical and company size.
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SD-WAN Vendors, Managed Services Model and Features
By leveraging industry-leading vendors such as Versa Networks, VMware VeloCloud, Cisco Meraki and Fortinet, Virgin Media SD-WAN offers a range of features that can be tailored to specific business requirements, improving network performance, security and management efficiency.
The default vendor offered for Virgin SD-WAN is Versa Networks - typically suitable for both SMEs and large enterprises and therefore catering to a wide audience, Versa offer features such as as multi-tenancy, built-in security services and a single-pass architecture for improved performance and operational efficiency.
Alternatively, customers can opt for Virgin SD-WAN utilising VMware VeloCloud, with it's dynamic multipath capabilities and SASE security for cloud use cases, Fortinet for their security-focused approach, ideal for more regulated industries (such as financial services and healthcare) or, finally, Cisco Meraki, known for it's ease of use and tighter integrations with the broader Cisco product range - a good choice for businesses already leveraging these products.
Standard SD-WAN Service Features
As standard, Virgin Media Business SD-WAN provides a range of service features to improve network performance, security and management.
Improved Performance
Due to Virgin Media’s SASE overlay partnerships, both VMware VeloCloud and Versa Networks, alongside Virgin Media’s expansive fibre UK network, Virgin Media can provide cloud-optimised connectivity to cloud applications and services, which can be particularly beneficial for businesses leveraging SaaS applications.
To improve overall network performance, features such as link aggregation enables the combination of multiple network underlay types (Leased Lines, Broadband, LTE/5G, Satellite and MPLS). By combining bandwidth across multiple different network links, businesses can create a larger, virtual connection to resources. This larger connection can be essential for delivering users access to bandwidth-intensive applications or resources, which in some cases we've seen SD-WAN replace MPLS usage.
Application Aware Routing, within SD-WAN, offers businesses with the ability to prioritise critical applications based on real-time conditions and SLAs. AAR can evaluate telemetry from network connections using Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), allowing for the SD-WAN solution to determine the best possible route at any given time. BFD pre-empts where issues may occur within the network and will suggest an alternate route when performance begins to degrade.
Alongside Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms, AAR can detect which applications are of higher importance to your business operations. These applications are then prioritised, allowing for critical applications to receive the bandwidth they need to perform.
These features combine, for example, for use cases such as video conferencing, which use vast amounts of bandwidth for passing both video and audio across multiple sources, therefore these techniques provide businesses with the ability to reduce latency, desynchronised voices or even dropped calls.
Enhanced Security
Virgin Media’s SD-WAN solution provides all of the typical network security functionality, such as a unified networking and security stack, with built-in firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention for secure connectivity. This includes segmentation and encryption (IPsec, SSL/TLS), which reduce the need for extra dedicated on-premises appliances and lowers overhead costs for organisations.
Their security integrations ensure user safety on the internet by, providing URL and DNS filtering (alongside antivirus), which offers malicious content blocking and web traffic monitoring to safeguard against web-based threats, malware and phishing.
With the integration of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) for more advanced security features, Virgin Media business customers gain network security features such as Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) and cloud sandboxing, ideal for protecting cloud connectivity and mission critical applications.
Easier Management
Virgin Media SD-WAN offers centralised management through cloud-based access that can be accessed from anywhere, providing network administrators with complete oversight of their entire network infrastructure. Virgin Media SD-WAN enables network administrators to manage all branch office connections through a single control panel, therefore reducing the overall network complexity and minimising the amount of manual configuration required at each branch office, with consistent policy enforcement at every branch to ensure all security services are aligned, making the SD-WAN secure.
Through this simplified management, Virgin's solution includes zero-touch provisioning for improved scalability, allowing for quicker deployment across distributed environments, reducing overhead and minimising the potential for errors during setup and configuration processes.
Service Tiers
Virgin Media Business takes a a different approach to service tiers, avoiding standard service tiers as seen with some of their competitors. Instead, they offer a large range of customisation through vendor choice, underlay connectivity options and level of managed service. On top of this Virgin Media Business provides SLAs with uptime commitments to meet differing business requirements.
The service includes multiple connectivity options including the likes of Leased Lines and Voom Broadband, offering varying speeds and static/dynamic IP options, suitable for different site sizes and requirements.
It's worth noting, especially for security-focused businesses, that Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) capabilities are sometimes offered as an add-on service, while other times they are already included, depending on the chosen SD-WAN vendor and specific package requirements.
Unique Selling Points of Virgin Media's Solution
Offering end-to-end service ownership, with Virgin Media  managing both the network underlay (broadband, leased lines) and the SD-WAN overlay, their solution is ideal for businesses looking to reducing overhead complexity, especially when considering the extendability to gain SASE functionality.
Underlay Network Connectivity (and utilisation of existing infrastructure)
Virgin Media's extensive UK infrastructure supports multiple connectivity types that can be combined or aggregated to meet specific business requirements. The network comprises 330 Ethernet Points-of-Presence (PoPs) across the UK with 38,000 street cabinets providing widespread coverage and providing reliable access to the likes of cloud services.
Leased Lines
Virgin Media O2 Ethernet Leased Lines offer connectivity for businesses that cannot afford downtime or performance compromise. Customers utilising leased lines gain a dedicated Internet connection direct into sites, integrated with Cisco cybersecurity, constant monitoring from Virgin Media’s in-house engineers and symmetrical upload and download speeds.
Services ranging from 100 Mbps to multi-gigabit guaranteed symmetrical bandwidth (identical upload/download speeds) and service level guarantees are backed by SLAs, such as a 99.9% uptime guarantee with service credits for non-compliance, initial response within 4 hours, on-site attendance within 6 hours, target resolution of 6 hours for standard faults. The service includes 24/7 proactive monitoring through VMO2 NOC, automated alerts for service degradation and detailed performance reporting.
Business Broadband
For sites or use cases where a leased line isn't necessary or cost-effective, VMB also offers business broadband connectivity as underlay. Virgin offer their Voom Fibre broadband as a super fast broadband solution for business, including 4G Start-up and 4G Back-up options for improved reliability.
Virgin's large UK infrastructure (hundreds of Ethernet Points-of-Presence and tens of thousands of street cabinets for last-mile) enables widespread coverage, which is especially relevant for nationwide enterprises and public sector bodies connecting many sites.
Virgin Media's Voom Fibre product range provides high-speed connectivity with customisable features across 5 speed tiers, making it not only one of the fastest options on the UK market but also offering a speed to suit every use case.
4G/5G and Backup
Virgin Media O2's mobile network can be leveraged for wireless backup connectivity through 4G/5G failover capabilities, assisting with business continuity during primary connection outages and creating an overall more reliable network.
These mobile connectivity options are often included as part of Virgin's business broadband packages through 4G Start-up and 4G Backup options to keep sites online during outages, providing another layer of network resilience.
SASE and SSE Integrations
Virgin Media Business has partnered with Zscaler to integrate SASE features through the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform into the SD-WAN provider's service. This integration enables VMB customers to leverage Zscaler's industry-leading network security, such as secure web gateway, cloud firewall, CASB, cloud sandbox and data loss prevention (DLP) as part of their SD-WAN deployment. Due to this integration, the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange sits between users and applications within the SD-WAN network, inspecting and securing traffic across any network, improving cloud services usage and supporting hybrid/remote workers through enhanced security and greater network efficiency in one solution.
For secure remote access, Zscaler Private Access replaces legacy VPNs, granting application-level access based on zero-trust principles, providing greater security for distributed workforces whilst maintaining user productivity.
Customer Segments and Use Cases
Virgin Media Business SD-WAN is designed to be especially accessible for UK SMEs, typically ranging from around 10 to a few hundred employees. The Smart Internet Access (SIA) with SD-WAN package is tailored for this segment, offering internet connectivity and SD-WAN together in a simple subscription model, eliminating the need for utilising multiple services or large upfront investments and making it an ideal choice for SMEs looking to minimise capital expenditure.
For businesses requiring more customisation, the co-managed Meraki SD-WAN solution offers expert support from VMB whilst also allowing Virgin Media Business customers greater configuration control. This solution is particularly easy to manage and appeals to organisations with existing IT expertise who want to maintain some level of direct network management whilst still benefiting from Virgin Media's infrastructure and support capabilities from the SD-WAN provider.