CF20: 2023's 20 Top SD-WAN Providers You Should Know
What it takes to be a successful SD-WAN provider keeps ratcheting up.
![Twenty, 20, SD-WAN providers Twenty, 20, SD-WAN providers](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt1623fbe456f4d7d3/6523f96f6868b42e553c7c45/shutterstock_790434142.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Jörge röse-oberreich/Shutterstock
Del’Oro’s Mauricio Sanchez said Cisco is the “8,000-pound networking gorilla.” In February, Cisco unveiled a new set of enhancements for its SD-WAN portfolio. That included a new model of its Catalyst 8500 edge platform and increased convergence with its SASE offering.
Fortinet provides unmatched value when it comes to the combination of price, performance, security and networking functionality, Sanchez said. Last month, Fortinet announced new innovations enabling unified management and analytics across its secure networking portfolio. Fortinet delivers visibility and enforcement across all secure networking elements, including hybrid mesh firewall, single-vendor SASE, universal zero trust network access (ZTNA), secure SD-WAN and secure WLAN/LAN.
Omdia’s Brian Washburn said AT&T is among noteworthy SD-WAN providers that are taking somewhat different angles to how they go to market to help enterprises with their respective ranges of platforms. AT&T ranks No. 1 for the fifth consecutive year in Vertical Systems Group‘s latest carrier-managed SD-WAN leaderboard
“My sense is that after having initially fairly different go-to-market priorities, they are now closing some of those capabilities differences,” he said.
Sanchez cites VMware among top SD-WAN providers. It’s an early innovator in bringing cloud-based networking to the masses and only one of four vendors he considers to be unified SASE, where networking and security are completely separate components.
Broadcom is in the process of acquiring VMware for $61 billion.
Sanchez said HPE Aruba is among top contenders in SD-WAN. HPE recently acquired Axis Security, a cloud security provider. This acquisition will allow HPE to expand its edge-to-cloud security capabilities by offering a unified SASE solution to meet the increasing demand for integrated networking and security solutions delivered as-a-service.
“Since acquiring Axis Security, HPE Aruba can now offer both WAN networking and security to the many loyal fans of their wireless solutions,” he said.
Washburn said Lumen Technologies is among top providers.
“There’s continuing pressure to deliver integrated offerings that cover a more complete remote access suite,” added S&P Global’s Eric Hanselman. “Three years ago, that drove deals that pulled in major areas of functionality, blending networking and security controls. Today, we’re seeing deals bringing in missing pieces in the security portfolio, such as secure web gateway (SWG) and remote browser isolation (RBI). The drive to get to SASE at any cost has given way to some maturing of the understanding of what’s really required for network and access integration.”
Huawei is among top SD-WAN providers, Sanchez said. Cao Tongqiang, director of Huawei’s SD-WAN solution, recently said “in the past few years, Huawei SD-WAN has conducted in-depth research on users’ pain points and requirements, and continuously innovated to improve user experience of multicloud and multi-branch interconnection.”
“Never underestimate China,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez cites Versa Networks among top SD-WAN providers. It adds new features at a “dizzying speed,” most recently expanding into software for campus networking LAN and WLAN.
“[SD-WAN is] a maturing market, specifically if we’re talking about the original use case of converting branches from MPLS to commodity internet,” he said. “While there’s still some greenfield opportunity, it’s become mostly brownfield. Rather than talking about the technology conversion from access routing to SD-WAN, it’s now about how to replace incumbent SD-WAN solutions by another SD-WAN provider. The differences between vendors for this use case are no longer strong.”
Washburn said Windstream Enterprise is among noteworthy SD-WAN providers.
“Enterprise expectations are now more realistic, more interested in the operational benefits of upgrading (SD-enabling) router platforms or migrating to a SD-WAN platform, and less caught up in cost savings,” he said. “That’s kind of old news by now. The SD-WAN market at least in managed services has not been particularly dynamic, in this case meaning it’s stable. That’s a good thing as we’ve now gone from early adopters deep into mainstream.”
Palo Alto Networks is a top contender in SD-WAN, Sanchez said. In March, Palo Alto Networks announced new SD-WAN features in its Prisma SASE solution for IoT device security and to help customers meet industry-specific security compliance requirements.
“Since acquiring CloudGenix awhile back, Palo Alto Networks has been offering WAN networking and security to the many loyal fans of their firewall solutions,” he said.
Cato Networks is among top SD-WAN providers. Last November, Cato Networks announced its annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew from $1 million to $100 million in just five years. Its growth beats popular cloud and consumer companies in reaching this key milestone. Its record pace further validates Cato SASE Cloud as a secure foundation for today’s digital enterprise.
Cloudflare is a “dark horse” when it comes to SD-WAN, Sanchez said.
“They’re still not offering a SD-WAN customer premises equipment (CPE) solution, but they have everything else,” he said. “Coming from the content delivery network (CDN) background and a focus on performance with security, they could become a disrupter through their network-as-a-service (NaaS) approach.”
BigLeaf Networks is among top SD-WAN providers. Last month, it announced it has been recognized as a leader in the SD-WAN category by G2, a software marketplace. In its Spring 2023 report, published on March 30, G2 honored Bigleaf with six awards based on feedback from verified customers and partners.
Netskope also is a “dark horse” when it comes to SD-WAN, Sanchez said.
“Even before the purchase of Infiot, they had already been putting a lot of thinking into what their security solution meant to the networking team,” he said. “They, too, have a proprietary cloud fabric like Cloudflare that could serve as entry into NaaS. Infiot [which Netskope acquired last summer] completes the picture with the SD-WAN CPE solutions.”
Washburn said Verizon is among top SD-WAN providers that are taking somewhat different angles to how they go to market to help enterprises with their respective ranges of platforms. Its managed SD-WAN solutions use application-aware routing to make sure all data travels the right path to its destination, keeping private networks clear for demanding apps while sending less critical data over public networks.
Washburn said Comcast Business is among noteworthy SD-WAN providers. Comcast Business has expanded its SD-WAN portfolio to give more options to SMB and single-location customers. It recently announced two new solutions geared toward standalone business locations. The new solutions cater to partners who need to connect to cloud and SaaS applications. The solution launch builds on its 2021 acquisition of Masergy.
Washburn said Spectrum Enterprise is among noteworthy SD-WAN providers.
“Truly the most effective SD-WAN solution is one that is supported by strong partners,” he said. “A mediocre platform can be made great with strong design/install/management and support by provider specialists. And a technically fantastic platform ain’t worth much if there’s no one who knows how to work with it.”
Aryaka, among top SD-WAN providers, in March announced enhanced SD-WAN and SASE offerings specifically designed to meet the needs of SMEs. It delivers a more comprehensive set of managed service capabilities, including application optimization, network security, multicloud connectivity, and cloud-based observability and control, all supported by life cycle services management.
Juniper Networks is among top contenders in SD-WAN. In March, Meesho, the fastest ever e-commerce business to acquire more than 100 million users in India, selected Juniper Networks’ AI-driven SD-WAN solution powered by Session Smart Routing (SSR) and the Juniper Mist Cloud to drive the network connectivity of its partner call centers across multiple locations nationwide, leading to improved uptime for Meesho’s VoIP applications.
Barracuda Networks, among top SD-WAN providers, has unveiled a new platform called Barracuda SecureEdge, a SASE solution that helps make hybrid and remote work easier to secure. SecureEdge integrates Barracuda’s secure SD-WAN, firewall as a service, ZTNA and SWG capabilities. Delivered as a service, SecureEdge secures users, sites and IoT devices, and connects to any device, application, and cloud/hybrid environment.
Barracuda Networks, among top SD-WAN providers, has unveiled a new platform called Barracuda SecureEdge, a SASE solution that helps make hybrid and remote work easier to secure. SecureEdge integrates Barracuda’s secure SD-WAN, firewall as a service, ZTNA and SWG capabilities. Delivered as a service, SecureEdge secures users, sites and IoT devices, and connects to any device, application, and cloud/hybrid environment.
When it comes to meeting customers’ needs and expectations, flexibility is priority No. 1 for SD-WAN providers.
SD-WAN has evolved from being network-centric to becoming a converged offering that integrates access requirements for the modern enterprise. To be effective, an SD-WAN offering has to have integrated management to improve operational efficiency. It also has to provide telemetry to both networking and security teams to guide their activities.
Effective SD-WAN implementations have simple policy management and non-disruptive deployment options.
This is our third annual “CF20” focused on top SD-WAN providers, and the sixth if you count our previous CP Lists. Analysts share their views on what it takes for SD-WAN providers to succeed with the technology. It includes an updated list and fresh views on changes in the competitive landscape.
According to MarketsandMarkets, the global SD-WAN market should grow from $3.4 billion in 2022 to $13.7 billion by 2027. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 32%. The rising need for mobility services is driving the growth of the SD-WAN market.
Priorities for SD-WAN Providers
Eric Hanselman, principal research analyst at 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the pre-pandemic focus for SD-WAN was on supporting a more dynamic branch network and enabling network agility.
451 Research’s Eric Hanselman
“Today, agility is important, but flexibility is paramount,” he said. “The impacts of hybrid work are still settling out. There’s the return to office in some locations and expanding retail activity. But there are other situations where the branch office population is asymptotically approaching one — the remote employee. Customers are expecting more of their requirements to be met by a single offering. Integration of network performance and security capabilities are a necessary part of an SD-WAN offering, whether that’s delivered as a product or a service.”
As zero-trust initiatives are fleshed out, identity is the next integration point that has become a requirement, Hanselman said. The buzz around secure access service edge (SASE) has shifted into expectations of greater security functionality.
Mauricio Sanchez, Dell’Oro‘s research director for network security, SASE and SD-WAN, said technology never stands still, not only because of constant innovation, but also because of environmental changes that create new problems and challenges.
Dell’Oro Group’s Mauricio Sanchez
“Besides the shift towards hybrid work, the pandemic also accelerated the shift of enterprise workloads to the cloud, particularly public clouds,” he said. “How to appropriately stitch these far-flung applications that once were on-premises has increasingly been bedeviling enterprise network architects. In many instances, they may not have even known that the development teams were shifting apps to the cloud, ensuring a new wave of cloud sprawl problems.”
Expectations Ratcheting Up for SD-WAN Providers
Sanchez said he’s starting to hear an increasing amount of frustration from network architects who are having problems stitching the new landscape together consisting of traditional branch locations, remote users and apps sitting in cloud provider pools. The multicloud strategies most development teams are embracing aren’t making it any easier since each cloud provider has its own twist to how it does networking.
“So this all means is that the bar to be a successful, cutting SD-WAN provider continues to ratchet up,” he said. “The foundation use case remains the conversion of branches from using MPLS in the last mile to commodity internet. Moreover, it’s about doing local internet breakout for those apps heading to the internet. The pandemic then overnight shifted everyone to remote work and created new challenges for SD-WAN solutions to address. This leads me to the most recent use case that is ratcheting up — the need to address those cloud-based enterprise apps and being able to stich it all together. Above and beyond these three use cases – branch conversion, remote users and cloud-based apps – leading SD-WAN vendors also need to provide network visibility, security and control, all in the name of a secure digital experience.”
Deployment Models
Brian Washburn, Omdia‘s research director of service provider enterprise and wholesale, said SD-WAN as a category is no longer “cutting edge.” It’s now been around long enough that it has an air of maturity and enterprises have developed a base level of trust in how the technology works. (Omdia and Channel Futures are both part of Informa Tech.)
Among SD-WAN providers, there does seem to be further splitting into small/light, medium and large/heavy deployments, he said.
Omdia’s Brian Washburn
“There are some vendors that remain especially good in each category,” Washburn said. “I don’t want to name names too much, because a bunch of platforms are capable in all areas. But you get the idea, Fortinet and Cisco Meraki can be lighter. Versa Networks can sit between light and middle. VMware is middle and larger. Cisco SD-WAN is more toward the high end. I skipped many. It’s more about the principle of three different package types, and each most effective to a targeted customer type.”
We’ve compiled a list, in no particular order, of 20 top SD-WAN providers. It’s based on feedback from analysts and recent news reports. The providers in the slideshow above are making the most of the ongoing competitive landscape and charting success.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Edward Gately or connect with him on LinkedIn. |
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like