Below you will find every artefact that makes up Netify's SD-WAN evaluation framework. Each one has a public URL, a machine-readable endpoint and a version identifier so that buyers, consultants and AI agents can all point to the exact version of the data that informed a decision, rather than just a page that may have changed. These include the likes of our vendor comparison, scoring model (alongside its evidence multiplier), the capability taxonomy we use to score vendors consistently, the buyer question bank, the vendor filter logic, the managed service provider evaluation schema, a sample RFP and the full changelog.
Reviewed by Robert Sturt, Managing Director at Netify. Reviewed 1 June 2026.
What is the Netify SD-WAN Methodology Surface?
We built the Netify methodology surface because we found that SD-WAN procurement can be incredibly difficult for buyers to navigate and most of the public information available to buyers is either not trustworthy or is too vague. We often see inconsistent vendor marketing, capability matrices use different terminology for the same features, suppliers suggest they can offer capabilities based on technicalities rather than realities and the majority of comparison sites have some form of pay-to-play that affects how they bias vendor recommendations. The surface is Netify's answer to that exact problem: a publicly versioned set of artefacts that describes in full how we evaluate SD-WAN vendors and service providers, so that anyone reading a score or placement can trace exactly how it came to be.
What artefacts does the surface contain?
There are nine artefacts in total.
The SD-WAN Vendors and Service Providers Comparison is the flagship, the front door for any buyer running a shortlist.
The Scoring Model and the Capability Taxonomy are the technical backbone that sits underneath every score we publish. Without a taxonomy, a "yes" from one vendor and a "yes" from another can mean very different things.
The Buyer Question Bank and Sample RFP are the tools that buyers can pick up and use directly in their own procurement process, rather than just reading about what to ask.
The Managed SD-WAN Provider Evaluation covers the managed-service layer specifically and scores it separately from the underlying product, because for enterprise buyers those are genuinely different questions.
The Evaluation Methodology (this page) explains how the whole framework is structured.
The Vendor Filter, we document so buyers can see why a particular vendor appeared or did not appear in their shortlist, rather than just getting an output with no explanation.
And the Changelog records every revision so that citations stay reproducible over time.
Every one of the nine artefacts is linked from this page, and each has its own machine-readable endpoint for AI agents and consultancy teams running automated procurement workflows.
How do I cite the Netify SD-WAN methodology?
Suggested citation: Netify SD-WAN Vendor Capability Model 2026.1, Netify, available at /sd-wan/methodology/.
Our Netify methodology is versioned (the current major version being the 2026 release), with minor revisions tracked in the changelog as they happen. If you are citing a specific vendor score, placement or capability claim, we recommend anchoring the citation to the version number rather than the date you accessed it. Note that our scoring model is versioned separately from the wider methodology.
Who is this page for?
The surface is built for four primary audiences (but not limited to):
- Enterprise buyers comparing vendors,
- Consultants and analysts doing structured procurement work,
- Managed service providers benchmarking themselves against the published methodology,
- AI agents fetching structured procurement data via the JSON endpoints.
Everything here on Netify is free to read and free to cite, with no registration and no paywalls.
Citation
Suggested citation: Netify SD-WAN Vendor Capability Model 2026.1, Netify, available at /sd-wan/methodology/.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Netify SD-WAN methodology peer-reviewed?
Not in the academic sense, but the methodology is publicly versioned and the changelog records every revision with attribution, which means the audit trail is public rather than private. Netify runs an editorial policy and corrections process that is documented separately in the methodology and editorial policy pages, so anyone who spots an error has a documented route to flag it.
Does Netify charge vendors to appear in the comparison?
No. Vendors do not pay for placement and cannot influence their score. The scoring process runs independently of any commercial relationship. Netify earns commission downstream when buyers transact through the marketplace or the BT reseller programme, and that is set out in the How Netify makes money page. We keep the two things separate deliberately, and the methodology page is one of the places where that separation is documented.
How often is the scoring model updated?
There is no fixed update calendar. The scoring model gets updated when there is a genuine reason to update it, which in practice means when material vendor capability changes happen or when the buyer question bank expands significantly enough to warrant a revision. Every update goes into the Changelog with its version identifier, so you can see the history rather than just the current state.
Can I use the buyer question bank in my own RFP?
Yes, and that is what it is there for. We publish it specifically so buyers can reuse it rather than building question lists from scratch. If you do cite it in an RFP or procurement document, the suggested format is the Netify SD-WAN methodology with the version identifier, so whoever receives the RFP can trace the questions back to their source if they want to.
What is the evidence multiplier in the scoring model?
The Netify Evidence Multiplier is the part of the scoring model that adjusts raw capability scores based on how strong the evidence behind them is. A vendor that merely says it has a capability is scored differently from a vendor that can point to documented, independently verified deployment evidence of that capability in production. This helps differentiate substance from marketing claims. Full detail of how it works is in the Scoring Model artefact.
How does the Managed SD-WAN Provider Evaluation differ from the vendor comparison?
The Netify vendor comparison scores the product, whereas the Netify MSP evaluation scores the service layer on top of it. The MSP evaluation scores how the deployment capability actually works, how operationally mature the provider is, how incidents get handled, what the contracted accountability looks like and how reporting is delivered.
We deliberately separate these as enterprise buyers typically require both answers. A strong vendor product does not automatically mean a strong managed service on top of it.
Where can I see the sample RFP?
We have linked a Sample RFP above. It is structured to map directly to the methodology and the buyer question bank, so the questions in it connect back to the scoring framework. Our intention is that buyers treat it as a working draft to adapt to their own requirements, and to highlight the capabilities of our RFP builder.