ChannelVision Magazine

virtual reality management and operational tools to deal with implementation in- creases complexity, not reduces it, thus not simplifying implementation. So, going beyond the zero-touch provisioning and automated ap- plication intelligence of SD-WAN, simplicity is delivered by how com- plete the solution is to integrate networking and security into a uni- fied SD-WAN platform for the entire enterprise estate. CV:What hidden challenges exist that enterprises may not have thought about when it comes to getting the most from their SD-WAN deployment? VeloCloud’s MW: A hidden challenge that we see is when an enterprise looks at SD-WAN as a like-for-like alternative to MPLS. For instance, if an enterprise is seeking to let their MPLS contracts expire and implement SD-WAN as the replacement, they consider it a 1:1 replacement and only use SD-WAN in the same way they did MPLS. But SD-WAN is not only a great augmentation or alternative to MPLS; it is not limited to only site-to-site connectivity. It really opens the door to making network- ing initiatives a reality because it is not limited by architecture, by scale, by flexibility, by location be- cause of its cloud-delivered nature and ability to extend performance, security, control and visibility into the cloud. We have customers who have shifted their telephone systems into the cloud using a hosted VoIP provider combined with VeloCloud Cloud-Delivered SD-WAN, to pro- duce an exceptional experience for customers, employees and clients. We have many customers who have replaced their existing branch rout- ers with VeloCloud Edges to handle their full routing capabilities, and others who run other VNFs on the VeloCloud Edges rather than add another box to their hardware stack. CV:What does 2018 hold in terms of the evolution of this industry segment? Versa’s MB: 2018 should be exciting. Automation is going to drive further advancements in the segment, specifically with machine learning and artificial intelligence. The network will become even more intelligent, to safeguard against threats and be even more self-healing and resilient. Large- scale deployments will increase rapidly, and the boundary of the edge will be disrupted even further than it is today. o March - April, 2018 | Channel Vision 39

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