Which metrics should be tracked to measure SD-WAN performance for cloud access?

• A. Only bandwidth usage on the WAN link.
• B. The color of the cabling at the edge.
• C. The number of connected devices regardless of cloud access.
• D. Application performance to cloud apps, end-to-end latency to cloud regions, jitter, packet loss, path reliability, and cloud egress/ingress metrics.

Answer: (D)

Measuring SD-WAN performance for cloud access focuses on how cloud applications actually feel to users. The best set of metrics includes application performance to cloud apps, end-to-end latency to cloud regions, jitter, packet loss, path reliability, and cloud egress/ingress metrics. This combination captures user experience (latency, jitter, and loss), the health and reliability of the paths used to reach cloud services, and the specific behavior and cost implications of data entering and leaving cloud providers’ networks. Since cloud traffic often travels across multiple networks and paths, monitoring end-to-end performance to the relevant cloud regions ensures you’re measuring the actual experience rather than just a single interface metric.

Focusing only on WAN bandwidth misses how well applications perform, and the color of cabling or the number of devices connected doesn’t reflect cloud access quality or user experience.