Which Cloud OnRamp Solution Serves Partners Without Cisco SD-WAN?
Short answer
C Cloud OnRamp for Colocation lets partners and vendors without Cisco SD-WAN reach customers without installing SD-WAN appliances on site.
Question
Key Takeaways
The question tests which Cloud OnRamp flavor serves third-party partners who own no SD-WAN fabric, and the trap is picking IaaS simply because the wording mentions cloud and connectivity.
Cloud OnRamp for Colocation is the Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp variant built for partners and vendors that do not run Catalyst SD-WAN themselves yet still need to connect to customers without placing SD-WAN routing appliances at their sites. This page explains why that requirement maps to Colocation and not to IaaS, Multicloud or SaaS OnRamp.
Common mistake: Most candidates choose Cloud OnRamp for IaaS because the scenario sounds like automated cloud onboarding, but IaaS is for extending an existing SD-WAN fabric into AWS, Azure or GCP — not for partners who have no SD-WAN fabric at all.
Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
Cloud OnRamp for Colocation is the Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp deployment model that hosts shared Catalyst SD-WAN controllers and WAN Edge instances inside a colocation facility, so multiple tenants can attach to the fabric from one neutral location. The Cisco Cloud OnRamp for Colocation solution guide explicitly scopes this offer to "without Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN but still need connectivity to their customers", and adds that they do not want to install routing appliances at their own sites. That is exactly the scenario in the question: a partner or vendor with no SD-WAN equipment of its own that still requires customer reachability. The partner terminates into the colocated fabric instead of deploying SD-WAN routing appliances on-premises, which is the defining benefit of Colocation OnRamp.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Cloud OnRamp for IaaS automates the deployment of SD-WAN WAN Edge routers into public cloud regions such as AWS, Azure and GCP — it presumes the customer already owns a Catalyst SD-WAN fabric and is extending it into IaaS workloads. Cloud OnRamp for Multicloud is about optimizing and automating backhaul from existing fabric sites to multiple cloud providers, again an overlay on an SD-WAN fabric the partner in this scenario does not have. Cloud OnRamp for SaaS optimizes the user-to-SaaS application experience through direct internet access and Cloud OnRamp probing, which has nothing to do with giving a partner connectivity to its customers. None of these three remove the need for SD-WAN routing appliances at the partner's site the way the colocation model does.
Community Comment Notes
Rachant quotes the Cisco guide almost verbatim, noting that the target is partners and vendors "without Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN but still need connectivity to their customers", and links the Cloud OnRamp for Colocation solution guide PDF. ihateciscoreally points to the same document and notes the matching text appears on its second page, calling it answer C. westh4m1234 independently reaches the same conclusion, describing Colocation as the fit for partners who must avoid installing SD-WAN routing appliances on their sites. thepistol offers a competing A answer with a rough option-by-option breakdown, but his one-line descriptions of IaaS and Multicloud actually confirm those features are cloud-deployment and cloud-backhaul functions rather than a partner attachment model.
Official Reference
This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.
Exam Strategy
Read the subject of the sentence before the technology: if the actor is a partner or vendor that owns no Cisco SD-WAN, the answer must be the colocation model, because every other Cloud OnRamp option assumes an existing fabric. Anchor the four OnRamp flavors to their one-line purpose — IaaS for cloud workload extension, Multicloud for multi-cloud backhaul, SaaS for SaaS app experience, Colocation for hosted multi-tenant fabric access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Cloud OnRamp for IaaS wrong for a partner with no SD-WAN fabric?
What does Cloud OnRamp for Colocation actually provide to such partners?
Discussion 4 contributions
Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.
From public community threads 4
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ihateciscoreally 👍 5it is answer "C" https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/routers/sdwan-cloud-onramp-for-colocation/solution-user-guide/cisco-sdwan-cloud-onramp-colocation-solution-guide-20-4/about-cisco-sd-wan-Cloud-OnRamp-for-Colocation-solution.pdf on second page: Partners and vendors without Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN but still need connectivity to their customers. They do not want to install Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN routing appliances in their site.
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Rachant 👍 4 Answered CPartners and vendors without Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN but still need connectivity to their customers. They do not want to install Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN routing appliances in their site. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/routers/sdwan-cloud-onramp-for-colocation/solution-user-guide/cisco-sdwan-cloud-onramp-colocation-solution-guide-20-4/about-cisco-sd-wan-Cloud-OnRamp-for-Colocation-solution.pdf
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westh4m1234 👍 1 Answered CThe solution used by partners and vendors without Cisco SD-WAN who need connectivity to customers without installing SD-WAN routing appliances on their sites is Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp for Colocation (also referred to as Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp for Colocation)
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thepistol 👍 1 Answered AA: Full automated cloud deployments (correct) B: Multicloud is for backhaul to cloud C: is for colo facility intelligent routing D: is for intelligent routing to cloud over DIA
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