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SD-WAN vendors seek larger market slice through partnerships, services
Silver Peak, Versa Networks and Viptela are the latest SD-WAN vendors to launch partnerships and services in a market expected to top $6 billion by 2020.
SD-WAN vendors are racing to add services and partners to stay ahead of rivals in a highly competitive, fast-growing market.
Recent activity includes Versa Networks adding appliance makers and Viptela Inc. extending its platform to Microsoft's Azure public cloud. Meanwhile, Silver Peak Inc. grew its service provider partner list with Masergy Communications Inc. and Interoute Communications Ltd.
Software defined-WAN cuts costs by distributing traffic between private MPLS connections and less expensive broadband and cellular, based on policies set by network managers. As a result, companies can limit MPLS to traffic that requires the highest level of reliability.
Analysts expect enterprises to steadily adopt products from SD-WAN vendors over the next few years, as companies extend their networks to providers of online software, video conferencing and infrastructure as a service. The most popular IaaS providers include Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
Last week, Viptela introduced integration between its SD-WAN platform and Azure, which is also where Microsoft hosts its software services, including Office 365 and Skype for Business. Viptela provides SD-WAN appliances with throughputs ranging from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps. Companies can also deploy a virtual router.
Versa launched what it describes as an "open SD-WAN appliance ecosystem," which lets third-party vendors validate their hardware for the Versa platform. Initial hardware partners include Advantech, Silicom and Lanner Electronics, which make white boxes that other companies sell as network appliances.
Silver Peak added Masergy and Interoute to its list of service providers selling SD-WAN services powered by the vendor's technology, including its Unity EdgeConnect and Unity Boost products.
SD-WAN vendors competing in soon-to-reach $6 billion market
SD-WAN vendors announcing partnerships and technology releases are hoping to capture a bigger slice of a worldwide SD-WAN market that will grow to more than $6 billion in 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate of 90%, according to IDC. The revenue potential has attracted startups and established providers of technology and services.
"There is a slew of companies in the SD-WAN space," said Dan Conde, an analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group Inc. in Milford, Mass.
Startups include CloudGenix, Cradlepoint, VeloCloud and Viptela, which are competing with established companies, such as Cisco, Citrix, Riverbed and Silver Peak.
