Virtual Realities
Applications and network resourc-
es can be accessed on-demand, and
performance management, security
and routing combine to make it an
effective way to address WAN needs
while harnessing the scalability and
cost effectiveness of the cloud.
According to research firm Markets-
andMarkets, the SD-WAN market size
is estimated to grow from $738.9 mil-
lion in 2016 to $9.1 billion by 2021,
at an expected compound annual
growth rate of 65.11 percent during
the forecast period. A rising need for
effective management of networks
and the need for better security are
increasing the demand for SD-WAN.
North America held the largest market
share in 2016. And, since enterprises
are focusing on improving products
and solutions, the managed services
segment is expected to witness a
substantial growth rate during the
forecast period.
“The cloud breaks MPLS,” ex-
plained Kevin Suitor, chief marketing
officer at TeloIP, which offers SD-WAN
on a wholesale basis. “You have a
massive cloud market out there – by
2020, it will be worth $190 billion –
plus there’s a second massive
mega-market behind it in the
Internet of Things. Billions
of devices coming online will
require a different type of net-
work than what we’ve had for
the last 20 years.”
There’s a bit of a perfect
storm happening when it
comes to enterprise realities.
CFOs are cutting IT budgets
and staff, while deploying and
managing broadband, MPLS
and cloud links remains a
complex enterprise. Mean-
while, emerging unified com-
munications and collaboration
apps need voice and video
quality control so that calls don’t
drop out and so video doesn’t be-
come pixelated.
“If I wrap all of this up, it’s a mas-
sive opportunity for channel partners
looking to get into a managed service
SD-WAN
Opportunities
Shine in 2017
By
Tara
Seals
S
oftware-defined wide area network
are perhaps the hottest market
buzzwords at the moment, and
no wonder: SD-WAN offers multi-location
companies a way to connect their
disparate offices via the cloud, over
simple broadband connections.
Corporate Software Spending Plans for Next Quarter
Source: 451 Research
What are your organization’s top challeges
in network/WAN management at branch
office locations? (Select all that apply)
Source: Forrester, survey of U.S. network/telecom decision makers
Outsourcing Profile: Data Center Operations
Source: Computer Economics
2015 2016
7.2%
7.3%
loy cloud storage to support
ng on premises?
20% 40% 60% 80%
62%
77%
82%
19%
20%
14%
19%
3%
5%
0%
20%
40%
15% 13%
62% 64%
60%
80%
More Spending
How would you characterize your company’s spending plans for
software over the next 90 days compared to the previous 90 days?
No Change
Frequency
Level
Net Growth
Trend
Volatility
Cost
Success
Service
Success
Low
Moderate
High
Maintaining security across
public and private connections
Managing cost of increased
bandwidth requirements
Ensuring performance of
business-critical applications
Delivering reliable and/or
highly available connectivity
Deploying new applications
and services cost efficiently
55%
50%
49%
46%
40%
Channel
Vision
|
January - February, 2017
16