Ensuring Cloud-Readiness: How Obkio Supported Olymel's SD-WAN Migration

Imagine the frustration: you're ready to migrate your business’ network to the cloud, a move promising efficiency and growth. But at the very first step, you hit a roadblock. Packet loss, finger-pointing, and your entire migration stops – that was the harsh reality faced by Olymel.

This story dives into problems that many businesses face when migrating to SD-WAN networks. We'll explain to you how Olymel found the real cause behind their Internet issues, not by guessing, but by using Obkio’s network monitoring tool to pinpoint the exact source of the issue halting their SD-WAN migration. Learn how the data provided by Obkio helped the different parties implicated ensure a worry-free migration.

Olymel, a leading Canadian food processing enterprise, specializes in the packing of meat products, particularly pork and poultry. Headquartered in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Olymel marked a significant milestone with its 30th anniversary in 2021. Operating across five Canadian provinces, the company boasts an extensive network of over 30 state-of-the-art production facilities.

Olymel set out on a journey driven by a clear vision and company-wide commitment. Their goal was to make their infrastructure cloud-ready, enabling them to adapt more effectively to modern demands, gain the flexibility required, and access a comprehensive suite of cloud tools.

So Olymel decided to migrate part of their infrastructure from on-premise to the cloud. However, their existing MPLS network, limited to just 100 Mbps bandwidth, posed a significant obstacle. Congestion was present in the network, and prioritization efforts proved insufficient to handle the growing demands of cloud-based applications.

To address these bandwidth limitations, Olymel opted for an upgrade. They transitioned from a 100 Mbps MPLS circuit to a robust 200 Mbps DIA circuit across all their sites. Additionally, they implemented LTE backup to ensure redundancy and business continuity.

Eager to begin the migration process, Olymel started with its data centre, the crucial bridge between the MPLS and SD-WAN networks. However, the initial attempt encountered a roadblock at the very first site. An unexpected issue arose on the Internet circuit provided by the ISP, resulting in significant packet loss.

This packet loss came from a security policy-shaping mechanism implemented by their Internet provider. While designed to safeguard the network, it was dropping packets, impacting overall performance. The challenge for Olymel was proving that the issue resided in the ISP's network, and not within their own infrastructure.

Another challenge was in complexity of SD-WAN networks, involving multiple stakeholders. Olymel recognized that managing firewalls and network operations would require collaboration between various parties, including:

• Security Company
• Olymel's IT Team
• Device Vendors
• Telecom Provider

This intricate network ecosystem raised questions about who was responsible for causing the issue, and who was responsible for solving it. At that point, the need for a robust network performance monitoring solution to secure a successful SD-WAN migration became undeniable.

To guarantee a seamless transition for their SD-WAN and cloud migration, Olymel chose to implement Obkio’s comprehensive Network Performance Monitoring solution. This decision allowed them to proactively identify any potential issues and continuously monitor performance throughout the entire migration process, ensuring a smooth experience before, during, and after the migration.

As a specialized SaaS solution for network performance monitoring, Obkio uses network monitoring agents deployed at key network locations. These Monitoring Agents continuously exchange synthetic traffic to measure critical network metrics, identify performance issues, and provide complete end-to-end network performance monitoring.

Obkio provides a user-centric view of network performance across different network types and is designed to evaluate network performance from WAN to LAN.

By strategically deploying Obkio's monitoring agents at all sites set for migration, Olymel was able to identify the cause of network issues affecting the migration, with solid evidence about their origin.

Network device monitoring proved crucial in this process, enabling the early detection of congestion and high bandwidth usage. Data from Obkio Vision, a visual traceroute tool, showed that the bandwidth was leaving their network, pinpointing the congestion on the ISP's side. This data became a powerful weapon in their fight to resolve the issue.

While the ISP eventually acknowledged the issue, the process would likely have been significantly more complex and time-consuming without the proof provided by Obkio's graphs and dashboards. Obkio helped Olymel shift the burden of proof, demonstrating that the problem was outside their own infrastructure.

This not only accelerated the resolution of the packet loss issue but also served as a starting point for the migration process, allowing Olymel to proceed with confidence.

After identifying and troubleshooting the initial network congestion, Obkio's real-time monitoring capabilities continued to be instrumental throughout the migration process. Olymel leveraged Obkio to monitor each network cutover, gaining valuable insights into the performance changes at each site. This real-time SD-WAN visibility empowered them to identify and address any potential issues that might have delayed the migration.

Identifying the three worst-performing sites enabled Olymel to prioritize their actions during the transition phase, enhancing efficiency and minimizing disruptions.

A minor hiccup emerged during the migration – a configuration error within the SD-WAN setup. This error caused an imbalanced traffic distribution between the primary link and the LTE backup.

Obkio's monitoring capabilities helped to identify the sites experiencing the issue. This enabled Olymel's IT team to pinpoint the problematic configuration and troubleshoot it efficiently.

The data collected by Obkio's Monitoring Agents proved incredibly valuable for Olymel. It served as a crucial benchmark, enabling them to compare their SD-WAN network's performance before and after migration. This information is pivotal for Olymel's strategy moving forward.

Olymel opted for Obkio's premium plan, tailored to accommodate their extensive network requirements. This plan provides for 10 sessions per monitoring agent. With 36 agents now deployed across 34 sites, Olymel can conduct up to 360 monitoring sessions.

With a pool of available monitoring sessions, Olymel can proactively monitor every aspect of the network, mitigating blind spots and ensuring comprehensive oversight. They can now continuously monitor network metrics, including latency, packet loss, and throughput, allowing them to swiftly detect any more potential network issues that may arise throughout the migration process.

With the cloud migration successfully completed, Olymel's focus shifted toward operational excellence. Obkio remains a key partner in this phase as well. A post-migration meeting was planned to establish a permanent monitoring setup for the SD-WAN network, leveraging Obkio's standard overlay and underlay configurations.

This setup would include comprehensive dashboards, insightful reports, and proactive alerts tailored to the specific needs of Olymel's SD-WAN environment. Additionally, training sessions were planned to equip Olymel's IT team with the expertise to effectively utilize these features.

Obkio's "Golden Template," a standardized configuration optimized for SD-WAN monitoring, would serve as the foundation for this permanent setup. This template will ensure consistent and comprehensive monitoring across all of Olymel's sites, empowering them to proactively identify and address any network performance issues that might arise.

By taking a proactive approach to network performance monitoring with Obkio, businesses like Olymel can navigate SD-WAN migrations with confidence and unlock the full potential of their cloud-powered future.

Leverage Obkio's monitoring solutions to:

• Identify and resolve network issues before they impact your business operations.
• Gain real-time visibility into network performance throughout the entire SD-WAN migration process.
• Make data-driven decisions to optimize your SD-WAN configuration.
• Establish a robust post-migration monitoring strategy for proactive issue identification.

Start your free trial of Obkio today and experience the power of modern network performance monitoring!