In the business world, the road to failure or bankruptcy is paved with complacency and stagnation. Innovation has always been the key to expanding the market as well as maintaining the existing one. With technology improving rapidly, businesses are scrambling to adapt new applications in order to stay above the competition. Unfortunately, one of the issues with committing to new technologies is that a new one may be just around the corner. Such is the case with the primary choice in network system, MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching). This network model, at least in the context of business, has seen better days. The growing popularity of cloud-based computing is threatening the foothold of MPLS systems in business preferences. Transitioning to new services, however, shouldn't be a knee-jerk reaction. After all, letting go of an established system then spending on a new one may just prove futile if another system comes along. This is why even with the existence of new systems; businesses are still not willing to jump ships. Businesses understand the importance of big data analytics , and are also taking it into account before deciding on whether to adapt to a new system or not.

But then again, what is big data analytics able to contribute in this decision? Data is fickle, even more so with big data. Transitioning to a new network topology may hurt the results of analytics from the downtime in transition alone. Looking at the bigger picture, MPLS still has a lot to offer. Sure, it may be on the road to obsolescence. But then again, what isn't?

The network design of MPLS is analogous to a local area network. This provides a better understanding of MPLS for those who are unfamiliar with its design. In a local area network, computers are connected to a hub, which is the router. The router serves as the one responsible for routing data so that each computer can access the Internet. MPLS functions in this manner, but on a bigger scale. Branches under a business are the computers in the analogy. Their data goes through a hub, which is a data center located remotely. The data center is in this analogy, the router. The notable advantage with this setup is that the full complement of network services can be managed from a single location. On top of that, MPLS also provides a technically more secure system due to having a singular center of operation.

For smaller businesses, though, MPLS is a total waste of investment, especially for newer businesses. It's makes more sense to ask the local telecommunication company about a Leased Line Cost, both in installation and maintenance. The benefit of leased line is that businesses have consistent bandwidth with the same upload and download speeds. The bandwidth is unaffected by external data since the line is entirely dedicated to the client. Conversely, large corporations generally don't consider leased lines as a primary network system due to its inefficiency at scaling. Implementing leased lines among numerous branches across a wide geographical location is immensely expensive.