Predictika · SD-WAN and SASE platform quotes
An AI sales agent prepares a quote that names a managed SD-WAN or SASE platform (SD-WAN with VMware, SD-WAN with Fortinet or SASE with Cato) and the capabilities the customer wants. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the public Windstream Enterprise comparison sheet and returns a verdict, every reason and the figures it computed.
This validator models the choice of one of the three platforms in the public Windstream Enterprise comparison sheet "Which SD-WAN and SASE is right for you" (1288, April 2023), not just the scenarios shown below.
Any Windstream Enterprise SD-WAN or SASE platform quote that touches these rules is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: prices (the sheet gives none, so there is no price build-up or line-item quote), other Windstream Enterprise services, and anything newer than the April 2023 sheet; the sheet marks one Cato capability as arriving in Q4 2023, which is not modeled.
7 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch
Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.
Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)
Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run
What this means
Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.
| What the validator caught | Typical rules-based CPQ | Predictika |
|---|---|---|
| Capabilities that differ by platform and by status | Only with workarounds Each of the 23 capabilities has three statuses on three platforms, so a rules-based CPQ needs a rule or table row for every combination and has to keep it current. | The platform and the required capabilities arrive in one request and are compared with the sheet on every call. |
| A roadmap capability is not a current one | Only with care Roadmap versus current is a third state beside available and not available; it needs its own approval path. | Roadmap capabilities return an approval finding, separate from the capabilities that block. |
| Limits that depend on the platform (site bandwidth, gateway throughput, data retention) | Only with care The limit changes with the chosen platform, so each comparison needs a lookup by platform. | The limit is derived from the platform and compared with the requested figure on every call. |
| Switching platform to fix a problem | Only with workarounds Changing the platform leaves the old selections in place, so rules have to be re-run in the right order. | The whole request is re-checked at once, so the corrected quote gets the full set of findings again. |
| Every problem returned in one answer | Only with workarounds Rules tend to fire as the quote is saved or a step is completed, so a person often fixes one error and meets the next. | All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in. |
Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.
| 1 | UTM firewall and signature-based threat protection is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 2 | Zero-day threat protection is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 3 | Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 4 | Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 5 | Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 6 | Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 7 | Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 8 | Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 9 | Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 10 | Next-Gen Anti-Malware (NGAM) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with VMware; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 11 | Zero-day threat protection is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 12 | Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 13 | Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 14 | Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 15 | Next-Gen Anti-Malware (NGAM) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 16 | Cloud virtual edge is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 17 | Dynamic branch-to-branch VPN is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 18 | Multicast is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 19 | Dynamic remediation (forward error correction) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 20 | Dynamic bandwidth detection is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 21 | Multi-link load balancing is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 22 | ADVPN (auto-discovered site-to-site tunnels) is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 23 | Customer dynamic routing with BGP is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 24 | Customer dynamic routing with OSPF is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SD-WAN with Fortinet; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 25 | Customizable reports is shown as roadmap, not a current capability, on SASE with Cato; Windstream Enterprise should confirm before it is committed to the customer. |
| 26 | DDoS mitigation is shown as not offered on SD-WAN with VMware and SD-WAN with Fortinet. |
| 27 | WAN optimization is shown as not offered on SD-WAN with VMware and SD-WAN with Fortinet. |
| 28 | Multicast is shown as not offered on SASE with Cato. |
| 29 | Dynamic bandwidth detection is shown as not offered on SASE with Cato. |
| 30 | Mobile interface for the portal is shown as not offered on SASE with Cato. |
| 31 | Customer dynamic routing with OSPF is shown as not offered on SASE with Cato. |
| 32 | 5001 Mbps per remote site is above the 5000 Mbps maximum per remote site for the selected platform. |
| 33 | 9001 Mbps per remote site is above the 9000 Mbps maximum per remote site for the selected platform. |
| 34 | 2501 Mbps through one gateway or POP is above the 2500 Mbps maximum aggregate throughput per gateway or POP for the selected platform. |
| 35 | 5001 Mbps through one gateway or POP is above the 5000 Mbps maximum aggregate throughput per gateway or POP for the selected platform. |
| 36 | 10001 Mbps through one gateway or POP is above the 10000 Mbps maximum aggregate throughput per gateway or POP for the selected platform. |
| 37 | 7 months of circuit data storage is above the 6 months the selected platform keeps. |
| 38 | 14 months of circuit data storage is above the 13 months the selected platform keeps. |
| 39 | 6000 Mbps per remote site is above the 5000 Mbps maximum per remote site for the selected platform. |
| 40 | 13 months of circuit data storage is above the 6 months the selected platform keeps. |
The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.
The agent's request. Please quote the SASE with Cato platform for 30 sites with up to 1,000 Mbps per site, 2,000 Mbps through the busiest gateway and 13 months of circuit data, with multicast, the mobile portal interface and BGP routing. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Blocked.
The agent's request. Please quote the SD-WAN with VMware platform for 30 sites with up to 1,000 Mbps per site, 2,000 Mbps through the busiest gateway and 13 months of circuit data, with multicast, the mobile portal interface and BGP routing. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Allowed.
The agent's request. Please quote the SD-WAN with VMware platform for 45 sites with up to 1,000 Mbps per site, 2,000 Mbps through the busiest gateway and 6 months of circuit data, with DDoS mitigation, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and WAN optimization. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Blocked.
The agent's request. Please quote the SASE with Cato platform for 45 sites with up to 1,000 Mbps per site, 2,000 Mbps through the busiest gateway and 6 months of circuit data, with DDoS mitigation, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and WAN optimization. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Allowed.
The agent's request. Please quote the SD-WAN with Fortinet platform for 60 sites with up to 9,500 Mbps per site, 5,500 Mbps through the busiest gateway and 13 months of circuit data, with forward error correction, multi-link load balancing and ADVPN. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Blocked.
The agent's request. Please quote the SD-WAN with Fortinet platform for 60 sites with up to 9,000 Mbps per site, 5,000 Mbps through the busiest gateway and 13 months of circuit data, with forward error correction, multi-link load balancing and ADVPN. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Needs approval.
The agent's request. Please quote the SD-WAN with VMware platform for 60 sites with up to 5,000 Mbps per site, 2,000 Mbps through the busiest gateway and 13 months of circuit data, with forward error correction, multi-link load balancing and ADVPN. It is ready to send.
Verdict: Allowed.
The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.