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SD-WAN-based services are expected to make up 71
percent of WAN optimization revenue in 2020, according
to IHS Markit figures.
Currently, just more than a quarter of mid-market and
enterprise firms surveyed by IDG for Silver Peak report hav-
ing implemented SD-WAN. “Survey respondents say that
landlines and traditional WAN architectures are inadequate
to maintain competitiveness as they move more of their ap-
plications and data to the cloud,” said the survey.
In addition to this, a third of respondents indicated that
they are being held back by existing MPLS contracts. As
these contracts expire, IDG expects the move to SD-WAN
will rapidly accelerate.
Indeed, as SD-WAN moves to the mainstream in 2017,
“the majority of initial enterprise deployments will be hybrid,
leveraging both MPLS and a complement of broadband,”
says Hughes.
As product offerings gain maturity and businesses gain
confidence in the reliability and security of SD-WAN offer-
ings, no doubt it will displace a lot of MPLS sales and de-
ployments. Much like POTS in the VoIP analogy, however,
it’s likely the transfer off of MPLS will take longer than most
anticipate, meaning MPLS will remain relevant for some time.
Right now, for instance, the SD-WAN market lacks security
standards, for example, such as a lack of network synchro-
nization and security administration at every level of the net-
work, say Research and Markets analysts.
“In 2017, enterprise adoption of SD-WAN
over pure broadband will accelerate dramati-
cally as they realize that it’s possible to de-
liver MPLS-equivalent quality of service and
availability when combining any combination
of transport, including consumer broadband
connectivity,” predicts Hughes. “Whether or
not vendors or service providers can deliver
on pure broadband SLAs will fast become a
key decision criterion.”
Geographically, North America – and the
U.S in particular – is seen as the largest po-
tential market for SD-WAN, while China and
the Asia-Pacific are expected to experience
the highest growth rates through forecast pe-
riods. In Europe, Germany is expected to be
the major contributor to the regional market,
say P&S analysts, who expect healthcare,
among various industries, to witness the
highest growth in demand of SD-WAN solu-
tions in the near term.
The managed services segment also is
expected to be robust early on, suggests
Research and Markets. “Managed services
provide a combination of SDN-WAN and
SD-WAN solutions to end-users, by reduc-
ing the operational cost and making it more
flexible,” said the research firm. “WAN-based
services, such as monitoring and managing
real-time traffic are enabled by managed
services on deployed network conditions. It
further helps in optimizing resources by bet-
ter planning and facilitating them.”
Ultimately, when it comes to network us-
age and management, “we’ve reached an
inflection point,” concludes the IDG/Silver
Peak study. “According to our survey of IT
professionals, the combination of expired
MPLS contracts, frustration with MPLS costs
and complexity, and the emergence of a new
disruptive technology designed to connect
users to applications of all types indicate that
it’s time to make the move to SD-WAN.”
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