Service provider Masergy is partnering with Silver Peak to offer software-defined WAN capabilities to its enterprise customers.
Masergy will deliver a managed SD-WAN service that will be based on Silver Peak’s Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN platform and Unity Boost WAN optimization product. The move is part of Masergy’s larger strategy to move into the growing managed SD-WAN space, an initiative Masergy officials outlined earlier this month.
“Today’s dynamic information technology environment requires enterprises to be more agile as they expand operations, introduce new applications and migrate to public clouds—all while continuously optimizing costs,” Masergy CTO Tim Naramore said in a statement. “These factors are driving the need for more intelligent use of broadband Internet connectivity in global hybrid network architectures.”
The partnership between Masergy and Silver Peak is also the latest example of the growing trend of service providers teaming with tech vendors to provide enterprises with SD-WAN services. Verizon has adopted Cisco Systems’ iWAN and Viptela’s products for its SD-WAN services, while British telecommunications firm BT Group is adding Cisco’s iWAN to its list of managed services.
In addition, MetTel and EarthLink are running out managed SD-WAN services that are based on technology from VeloCloud, while CenturyLink is partnering with Versa Networks.
The moves come at a time when SD-WAN is getting attention from enterprises that are looking to make their branch and remote networks more simple, agile and affordable. For decades, the WAN has relied on such connectivity modes as Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) to transfer data from the branch to the central data center. However, in a cloud-centric world, applications and data now move between the branch office and the cloud, and data can come from a broad array of mobile devices. Through SD-WAN, there are multiple transport modes in play, and the network can decide the best path for a particular workload, which could be anything from MPLS to cellular and wireless LTE.
Analysts with IHS Markit predict that SD-WAN revenue will reach $1.3 billion by 2020, while IDC analysts are forecasting SD-WAN revenue to hit $6 billion by then. Gartner is predicting that while about 1 percent of enterprises currently are using SD-WAN technology now, that will increase to 30 percent by the end of 2019.
Silver Peak’s SD-WAN and WAN optimization technologies will enable Masergy to expand its Managed Network f(n) services portfolio. Masergy officials said Silver Peak’s products will be offered as a single integrated solution, enabling customers to deploy SD-WAN within their existing network environments. The technology also comes with reporting and analytics capabilities to give users visibility into their legacy and cloud applications, and zero-trust security and control for all their connectivity options, officials said.
EdgeConnect enables enterprises to easily balance traffic across the multiple connectivity options, while adding Unity Boost to improve the performance of applications over distances, according to Silver Peak officials.