Why Your Customer Knows Before You | The MSP Dilemma & How SD-WAN Changes Everything ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ๐


One of the most frustrating experiences for any Managed Service Provider (MSP) is getting that dreaded call or ticket:
โHi, just letting you knowโwe're offline.โ ๐ค
At that moment, you're already behind the curve. The customer detected the problem before you did, and worse, your visibility only kicks in once the service has already failed.
But why does this happen so frequently? The root of this issue lies in the architecture most ISPs and MSPs still cling to โ a single underlay infrastructure. ๐งฑ
๐ The Single Underlay Infatuation
Most connectivity strategies revolve around a single link: one broadband, one fibre, or one LTE line. The logic is simple: keep it basic and low cost. But simplicity here leads to vulnerability. Any glitch, spike in latency, micro-outage, or drop in throughput on that underlay, and your entire network experience collapses. ๐ฃ
The customer sees it first, feels the frustration, and the MSP is left scrambling. ๐งฏ
You might think, "Letโs add more lines!"
Sure โ thatโs multiple underlays. But without an overlay, itโs like having three different keys for three different doors. ๐๏ธ๐ช If one door fails, the user is stuck trying to figure out which key works next.
๐ซ Why Multiple Underlays Alone Donโt Cut It
Hereโs the harsh reality: multiple connections without orchestration are just more points of failure with no intelligence. ๐ง โ
Legacy failover logic doesnโt detect degradation โ only failure. And when the switchover finally happens, it often:
Takes too long โฑ๏ธ
Is disruptive to sessions โ๐ก
Doesnโt always result in a better link ๐คทโโ๏ธ
This results in brownouts โ a phenomenon where connectivity exists, but performance is terrible. ๐ค๐
And here's the kicker: these events donโt trigger traditional monitoring, because the circuit isn't technically "down." So again โ the customer notices first. ๐๐ฒ
๐ The Power of a Single Overlay Across Multiple Underlays
Now picture this:
All underlays โ fibre, LTE, fixed wireless, broadband โ converge into a single logical tunnel. ๐ณ๏ธ
This overlay network constantly monitors each link in real-time, probing, testing, and evaluating link health. ๐งช๐
Traffic is automatically routed across the best-performing path โ instantly and seamlessly. ๐
This is the genius of SD-WAN. ๐ง โจ
By decoupling control from the physical link, SD-WAN overlays provide not only fault tolerance but also resilience. ๐ช
Even before a circuit goes hard down, brownout behaviour like increased jitter, latency, or packet loss is detected and mitigated. ๐ฏ
๐ซ Brownouts | The Canary in the Connectivity Coal Mine
Brownouts are the subtle warning signs that precede a full-blown outage. โ ๏ธโ๏ธ
Theyโre harder to detect and often missed by legacy tools. But they impact performance just as severely.
Fusionโs SD-WAN detects these brownouts through:
Continuous SLA probes across all underlays ๐ก
Dynamic path scoring based on live performance metrics ๐
Instant failover and even load balancing, not just backup โ๏ธ
When a brownout occurs, the SD-WAN doesnโt wait for failure โ it re-routes traffic in real time to the better link, often without the user even noticing. ๐ฃ๏ธ๐จ
๐ Giving MSPs Their Visibility Back
Customers expect their MSP to know about problems before they do. ๐๐
Thatโs hard to achieve if your toolset is blind until the red light flashes.
Fusionโs SD-WAN changes this by making the overlay the nerve centre of the network. ๐งฌ๐
With Fusion SD-WAN, MSPs gain:
Real-time dashboards and alerts for underlay performance ๐๐ข
Predictive insights from ongoing degradation trends ๐ฎ
The ability to proactively notify clients before they experience an outage ๐โ ๏ธ
Automated self-healing through policy-driven failover and traffic steering ๐ค๐ ๏ธ
โ Wrapping Up | From Reactive to Proactive
In the traditional model, your customer is your alert system. โ๐จโ๐ป
With Fusion SD-WAN, you reclaim that role. ๐
You gain awareness. ๐ง
You regain control. ๐ฎ
You restore trust. ๐ค
No more surprises, no more guesswork. With multiple underlays and one intelligent overlay, you evolve from being a reactive help desk to a proactive technology partner. ๐๐ก๏ธ
Fusionโs SD-WAN doesn't just connect โ it protects the experience. ๐
And in the world of MSPs, thatโs the real differentiator. ๐๐
Subscribe to my newsletter
Read articles from Ronald Bartels directly inside your inbox. Subscribe to the newsletter, and don't miss out.
Written by

Ronald Bartels
Ronald Bartels
Driving SD-WAN Adoption in South Africa