More than half of U.S. businesses are now using SD-WAN technology, according to a new report from Altman Vilandrie & Company.
However, despite its solid implementation rate and growth potential, the report predicts that SD-WAN will be “more evolutionary than revolutionary,” with seven out of 10 IT buyers still holding on to legacy networking technologies SD-WAN was intended to replace.
The report, produced in partnership with Bank Street, features analysis from a survey of 300 U.S. IT decision-makers ranging from SMB and large enterprise firms.
The survey revealed that 52 percent of U.S. business have adopted some form of SD-WAN technology. Larger enterprises, like national (79 percent) and global (77 percent) businesses, have adopted SD-WAN at much higher rates than smaller firms.
As SD-WAN adoption has grown, the report says, MPLS systems have stuck around, and many IT purchasers say these legacy systems remain integral to their strategies. According to the report, around 70 percent of SD-WAN buyers report that they still purchase MPLS. Similarly, while SD-WAN allows for easier in-house control and management of a company’s network, approximately 65 percent of buyers report that they are buying SD-WAN as a solution from a managed service provider, as opposed to taking a do-it-yourself approach to management.
This hybrid approach, in part, has tempered costs savings for SD-WAN deployment compared to the expected massive cost reductions touted at the launch of this new technology. The report shows that more than half of buyers deploying hybrid MPLS / SD-WAN networks are only expecting to save 1 percent to 25 percent on connectivity costs relative to their pre-SD-WAN spend, with few expecting more significant cost savings.
