Riverbed Nabs Ocedo for SD-WAN Expertise

Riverbed Technology has acquired software-defined networking and software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solution provider Ocedo for an undisclosed sum, the company announced on Tuesday.

Riverbed said its integration of Ocedo’s technology will allow the company to bolster its ongoing efforts to provide customers and partners with new SD-WAN solutions, according to the announcement.

Ocedo, which is based in Karlsruhe, Germany, is known for its hybrid WAN and AWS connectivity solutions. The company also develops its own cloud console, gateways, switches and access points. 

Riverbed Chairman and CEO Jerry M. Kennelly said the acquisition puts Riverbed in a position to corner a significant share of the growing SD-WAN market, especially as more enterprises begin to adopt the technology in their branch offices, according to Gartner.

“Ocedo is a compelling and strategic acquisition for Riverbed,” said Kennelly, in a statement. “Their innovative software-defined networking solutions perfectly complement our own strategic investments in R&D, expanding our position to aggressively compete in the emerging markets for software-defined networks and SD-WAN.”

The entire Ocedo leadership team will be incorporated into Riverbed as part of the acquisition.

Riverbed has been particularly aggressive in the SD-WAN market of late, especially after announcing its “Project Tiger” initiative last fall. The company said the Ocedo acquisition is the latest step in its mission to cut out traditional branch routers entirely in lieu of cloud-based zero-touch provisioning and management.

While a launch date for Riverbed’s first SD-WAN solution has not been finalized, the company said it expects to release its first product sometime in Q1 of this year.

Riverbed unveiled the latest version of its SteelCentral Platform in November, with several new capabilities aimed at helping administrators to troubleshoot potential system issues.