ChannelVision Playbook Volume 7

at least, 62 percent of those implementing SD-WAN report that MPLS investment will in- crease or remain unchanged. And more than half of those looking to implement SD-WAN expect MPLS investment to increase or not change. “IT teams require a pre- dictable transport to meet their SLAs to the business. This is particularly true for real-time applications, such as voice and business-criti- cal services,” says the Cato Networks report. “An internet backbone is too unpredict- able, particularly across long distances or between internet regions, for these use cases. As such, enterprises end up retaining an SLA-backed backbone along with the deployment of SD- WANs.” Perhaps that’s not as big a prob- lem as some may think. While re- duction in MPLS cost is certainly on the radar of SD-WAN buyers and prospects, it’s far from the only impor- tant priority or criteria. Whereas 65 percent of respondents said reduced cost of MPLS service was critical or very important to their SD-WAN deploy- ments, larger percentages said the same about im- proved performance and increased network security. More important than all of those was the flexibility and agility that an SD- WAN can provide. “The motivation for de- ploying SD-WAN may have started with cost reduction and improved performance, but that’s changing,” says the Cato study. “Agility, not cost sav- ings, will be the mantra for tomorrow’s SD-WAN.” The research suggests that those considering SD-WANs are more apt to prioritize features relating to agility, such as reduced deployment and con- figurations times, over reduced costs, says Cato Network executives. Among those that have deployed, less than half (41 percent) realized the expected cost savings. More than 80 percent, howev- er, said that SD-WANs led to increased flexibility and agility. And while the chatter around SD-WAN has largely focused on al- leviating the challenges of site-to-site connectivity, enterprise buyers are looking for lots more. “There is sig- nificant interest in SD-WANs incor- porating features that would improve performance over long distances,” said the study. More than half of respondents want to see SD-WANs include SLA- backed guarantees for network la- tency and packet loss elimination techniques. A significant minority (45 percent) want to see duplication and compression added in. Respondents also were strongly interested in seeing security coupled into their SD-WAN solutions, with 72 percent of respon- dents wanting an SD-WAN solution to include next- generation firewalls, whereas 51 percent thought next-gen firewalls were already stan- dard features within SD- WANs. Six in 10 respondents wanted to see anti-malware incorporated, while 34 per- cent thought it was already a standard bullet point. The interest in security might be expected. After all, a key benefit of SD-WAN stems from the ability of remote lo- cations to access the internet directly in lieu of backhauling traffic across an MPLS or VPN tunnel to centralized and secured access. “Allowing direct internet access from the office, though, opens the enterprise perimeter to at- tack,” the Cato study points out. In turn, more than half of compa- nies that deployed SD-WANs also reported increased investment in net- work security appliances, and more than half of respondents expecting to deploy SD-WANs anticipate an in- creased investment in network security appliances. Currently, about 10 percent of firms surveyed have al- ready deployed SD- WAN, with about 20 percent actively plan- ning a deployment in the next 12 months. So while 47 percent of respondents still indicated no current plans to deploy the technology, Cato’s figures suggest enterprises are invest- ing in general in their networks, and the survey suggest near-term growth is a pretty safe bet. It remains to be seen, however, what type of messaging and inte- grated services and components will pique the most interest among IT decision makers. o To what degree has the SD-WAN deployment impacted your investment in the following? Source: Cato Networks Source: VoiceLabs Operators Perceptions of 5G Source: GSMA Average 2016 Wireline Financials (In thousands of dollars) 35% 36% 35% 48% 53% 14% 28% 39% 24% 17% 52% INCREASE DECREASE NO IMPACT 36% 28% 28% 30% Routers WAN optimization appliances MPLS services Internet services Network security appliances Please rank the priorities the led to your SD-WAN deployment Source: Cato Networks 31% 48% 34% 24% 10% 28% 45% 24% 3% 38% 31% 24% 7% 31% 55% 10% 3% Critical Very Important Somewhat Important Not Important Reduced cost of MPLS service Improved internet or cloud performance Increased network sec rity Increased network flexibility and agility Evolutionary technology and new business model Revolutionary technology and new business model Evolutionary technology and traditional business model Revolutionary technology and traditional business model Other combination Mostly a marketing activity 49% 21% 15% 8% 8% 0% To what degree has the SD-WAN deployment impacted your investment in the following? Source: Cato Networks Source: VoiceLabs Operators Perceptions of 5G 35% 36% 35% 48% 53% 14% 28% 39% 24% 17% 52% INCREASE DECREASE NO IMPACT 36% 28% 28% 30% Enable applications to thrive and be financially sutainable Showcase the device’s intelligence and teach the consumer what is possible with voice-first Software that interprets sp ech, connects to the cloud to process it, and responds intelligently Devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home that the consumer interacts with directly Routers WAN optimization applianc s MPLS services Internet services Network se urity appliances Please rank the priorities the led to your SD-WAN deployment Source: Cato Networks 31% 48% 34% 24% 10% 28% 45% 24% 3% 38% 31% 24% 7% 31% 55% 10% 3% Critical Very Important Somewhat Important Not Important Reduced cost of MPLS service Improved internet or cloud performance Increased network security Increased network flexibility and agility Evolutionary technology and new business model R volutionary technology and new business m del Evolutionary technology and traditional business model 49% 21% 15% 8% 10 THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK

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