Jul/Aug 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

virtual reality Where SD-WAN Stands By Martin Vilaboy Fast forward a few years later and new surveys show how SD-WAN has become a large or leading source of WAN service revenues for channel sales agencies. At the same time, as SD-WAN familiarity and adoption has increased, there’s also been some shifts in the priorities, expectations and intended usage among SD-WAN shoppers and adopters. According to a survey of 80-plus channel partners by Heavy Reading, SD-WAN solutions accounted for the largest percentage of WAN service revenue among the 70-plus respon- dents that offered WAN services. On average, SD-WAN represented 32 percent of respondents’ WAN revenues, followed by MPLS at 25 percent of revenue and Layer-2 Eth- ernet at 23 percent. Heavy Reading analysts did note, however, that telecom-focused agents tended to sell more MPLS than SD-WAN, and in some ways, it is still a nascent market in the channel community. Nearly a third of respondents (31 percent) reported fewer than 10 SD- WAN customers, while another 49 percent reported 10 to 50 custom- ers. Some partners pursuing SD- WAN still have zero sales, said the research firm. 2018 Partner WAN Service Revenue by Type SD-WAN 32% MPLS 25% Layer-2 Ethernet 23% Other 20% Source: Heavy Reading Even so, the vast majority of part- ners surveyed continue to be bullish on SD-WAN, with 76 percent anticipating it to drive more revenue this year, com- pared to a contrarian 6 percent that say it will drive less. That’s not to say partners are pessimistic about older WAN services. Layer-2 Ethernet and MPLS also look poised to grow, with channel partners feeling slightly more confident about Ethernet growth (48 percent) than MPLS (40 percent), said Sterling Perrin, Heavy Reading principal analyst. Indeed, despite early warnings that SD-WAN would replace existing architectures, as far as revenue is concerned, the hybrid approach of SD- WAN complementing existing MPLS I n early November 2017, at the TechConnect conference in San Antonio, Texas, a large group of A-list master agents was asked to stand up if they had made any money selling software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN). The proverbial crickets could be heard. 32 Channel Vision | July - August, 2019