10 / 36
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 million 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 expect-
ed to witness a substantial growth
rate during the forecast period.
“The cloud breaks MPLS,” explained
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. Bil-
lions of devices coming online
will require a different type of
network 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 re-
mains a complex enterprise.
Meanwhile, emerging unified
communications and col-
laboration apps need voice
and video quality control so
that calls don’t drop out and so video
doesn’t become pixelated.
“If I wrap all of this up, it’s a mas-
sive opportunity for channel partners
looking to get into a managed service
opportunity or to move away from
selling boxes,” Suitor said.
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%
10
THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S
PLAYBOOK