7 Hot Stories: SD-WAN Rankings, Fusion Channel Updates

VMware and T-Mobile led their peers in two recent market leaderboards.

Both companies are at the top of their game. VMware continues to hold sizable SD-WAN market share, and business wireless customers seem to be loving T-Mobile. Our editors wrote about VMware, T-Mobile and several other companies in the IT-telecom sector this week. We covered a couple of distributors, interviewed a new CEO and talked about one company’s post-bankruptcy plans.

Take a look at these seven mini-stories before you start your weekend.

7. New Open Systems CEO Praises Master Agent Strategy, ‘SASE’ Opportunity

They’re calling it the secure access service edge, also known as SASE. And it’s pronounced “sassy,” I’m told.

That’s the growing trend Open Systems is looking to harness as it expands from Switzerland and Europe to North America. Open System’s recently appointed CEO explained where his company is moving in terms of geography, technology and channel.

Meet Jeff Brown.

6. Zoomtopia: Providing a Stronger Story for Partner Sales

Zoom Video Communications announced new programs for reseller MDFs, integrator certification and hardware certification.

The company announced the three programs in addition to unveiling updates to its “video-first” UC platform. The changes give partners added credibility in the eye of the customer when selling Zoom products, according to Zoom’s head of global business development and channel.

The company made the announcements at its annual user conference.

Edward Gately has the scoop.

5. D&H Distributing Moves Into New Digs

The distributor moved into a larger headquarters in Pennsylvania.

The company built a new facility that will better house its 800 employees and allow it to hire 30 more positions. D&H had worked in the same main office for 67 years.

“In its previous location, D&H was restrained, particularly its labs and video facilities, in how often we could do customer online webinars, boot camps, training sessions where customers come to our headquarters,” an executive told Lynn Haber.

Learn more about D&H’s growth.

4. Synnex, RingCentral Partner on UCC

What a heckuva month for RingCentral alliances.

First teaming up with Avaya, and now signing an agreement to be a UCaaS and CCaaS technology partner for the distributor Synnex. RingCentral will expand its channel reach, and Synnex will add a “cohesive solution” for unified communications and collaboration (UCC).

Cisco, Avaya and Five9 also provide UCaaS and CCaaS for Synnex resellers.

Read more about the partnership.

3. T-Mobile Again Dominates AT&T, Verizon, Sprint in Business Wireless Survey

T-Mobile for a third consecutive year won all three categories of the J.D. Power business wireless survey.

Verizon, AT&T and Sprint shined in specific categories, but the self-styled “un-carrier” was the clear winner across the board. We strung together a mini-gallery that examines how the business wireless market is changing.

See how the carriers fared in the rankings.

2. Fusion Connect Outlines Post-Bankruptcy Channel Plans

Fusion Connect will comprehensively review its channel program as part of its plans to exit chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Fusion’s senior vice president of channels and alliances told us that the company will …… launch the new partner program in January. One of the changes involves asking inactive partners to “re-engage with us by selling a minimal amount of recurring new revenue.”

Read more about the update.

1. SD-WAN Rankings: Fortinet Rises as VMware, Cisco, Aryaka Hold Steady

Fortinet was the big surprise in an otherwise predictable IHS Markit SD-WAN market tracker.

VMware (which owns VeloCloud) remains at the top of IHS Markit’s leaderboard, but Fortinet overtook several competitors to reach fourth place. The analyst that helped put together the study detailed multiple SD-WAN trends, including the rise of remote workers. An overarching takeway is that SD-WAN has become a mainstream technology in the eyes of business customers — even large ones.

“Larger enterprises have begun to refresh their legacy, router-centric WANs with SD-WAN,” the analyst said. “Vendors are capitalizing on the refresh opportunities with customers that have large bases of aging router equipment.”

Check out the rankings.