Barracuda Study Shows SD-WAN is Top Option for Securing Public Cloud

Barracuda, in collaboration with Vanson Borne, recently surveyed a group of global IT decision makers about their attitudes and opinions on SD-WAN adoption.

The results indicated that while adoption rates for public cloud continue to grow, security is still the number one roadblock, which is understandable considering the volume and variety of threats organizations face today.

Twenty-three percent of respondents have already deployed SD-WAN, with another 51 percent either in the process of deploying or expecting to deploy within the next 12 months. SD-WAN is also being used by more than half of those who have added security to their public cloud.

In addition, Barracuda found that SD-WAN deployments vary greatly by industry. The financial services industry has the highest SD-WAN adoption, with 35 percent of respondents saying it is already in use. Another 41 percent are in the process of deploying SD-WAN or expect to do so in the next 12 months. The public sector has the lowest amount of SD-WAN usage. Only 7 percent currently have SD-WAN deployed, and another 36 percent are in the process of deploying SD-WAN or expect to do so in the next 12 months.

Acquiring SD-WAN through a cloud provider is the overwhelming preference, with 52 of respondents wanting to do so. In comparison, 16 percent prefer to get SD-WAN from an independent vendor, while 15 percent would opt for a telecommunications partner, and 12 percent would choose a VAR. Six percent had no preference.

Right now Microsoft Azure is the preferred public-cloud platform. According to the study, Microsoft Azure is 50 percent more preferred than Amazon AWS and 125 percent more preferred than Google GCP. Responses indicate that Azure is perceived to be more secure and more user friendly than AWS and GCP.