MNJ Technologies, a managed service provider, wants to show the value of SD-WAN before customers deploy it.

MNJ Technologies, based out of Buffalo Grove, Ill. launched an SDWAN demo lab where customers can test-drive a few SD-WAN services. Benjamin Niernberg (MNJ Technologies’ senior vice president of services and sales), said that the demo lab will simulate real-world scenarios in order to show businesses how SDWAN can improve their IT environments.

Niernberg stated that a lot of the things we were discussing were only hypothetical. To demo a product to a customer, one must do a proof-of-concept. However, we felt that it was more important to demonstrate to customers how these products could change their business practices in real-life.

[Related to Restarting growth: MNJ looks outside the box, and outside The Company]

Customers can use the lab to test six SD-WAN technologies, including those from Cisco Systems, Silver Peak, Cisco Systems, Fortinet, Fortinet, and Cloudgenix. Niernberg stated that the lab can provide WAN emulation which simulates any type of circuit and bandwidth available to customers in order to show how SD-WAN balances traffic.

Niernberg stated that the lab environment can also test for network conditions like packet loss, latency and jitter, out-of-order and out-of-order, high congestion, and even dropped connectivity. This will allow customers to see how failover would work if SDWAN is being used.

He said, “We can recreate our customers’ networks and LAN environments, and show them in real-time how each provider handles latency and packet loss. This gives us the power and the peace of mind that we can give our customers.”

Niernberg stated that the lab helps customers make better decisions about which SD-WAN service will work best for them. He also said that it has reduced MNJ Technologies’ sales cycle and deployment times because the company can give customers a clear picture of the results they can expect.

According to MNJ Technologies, any customer with an active SD-WAN sale or a business still evaluating SD-WAN can come into the lab either physically at its Buffalo Grove headquarters or virtually.

MNJ Technologies recently offered the lab to a customer who was deciding between two SD-WAN providers. Niernberg stated that customers were able to see how each provider dealt with different situations and circumstances and could make an informed decision.

MNJ Technologies was founded as a VAR 17 years ago. However, its sales began to plateau in 2015. MNJ Technologies knew that it needed to shift from being a reseller of commodity hardware to becoming a managed service provider, selling SD-WAN, security, and connectivity solutions.

In 2017, Niernberg was hired to transform the company and restart its growth. The pivot was key: the company launched its managed services business to address changing needs of customers.

Niernberg stated that “we saw the trend and decided to be very focused on the edge” with solutions such as SD-WAN, security, and cloud migration. “The business has continued to thrive ever since.”

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