SAN ANTONIO, TX – December 15, 2021 – Frost & Sullivan recently analyzed the global SD-WAN vendor industry and, based on its findings, recognizes VMWare with the 2021 Global SD-WAN Vendor Market Leadership Award. Frost & Sullivan’s research shows that VMware has consistently ranked as the leader in this market since 2017.
VMware SD-WAN, a core component of VMware secure access service edge (SASE), is delivered as a service across over 150 global points of presence (PoPs) deployed by VMware and its SASE service provider partners through the company’s network of cloud services. The PoPs bridge the gap between users, cloud, and SaaS-based applications. Vice President of Research & Program Leader, Roopa Honnachari stated, “VMware SD-WAN, located at major PoP locations around the world, offers optimized paths for users accessing cloud IaaS and SaaS applications, eliminating the need to backhaul traffic to the data center.”
Many businesses deploy clouds to increase application availability, a factor that continues to drive deployment of the company’s SD-WAN solution. Other industry drivers responsible for VMware’s consistent market-leading position through its cloud deployments include:
- The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strengthen businesses’ dependence on cloud to improve business continuity.
- Traditional WAN architectures such as MPLS VPNs, widely used to connect globally distributed enterprises, do not provide an efficient way to connect the ever-increasing remote workforce to cloud-based applications.
- Branch network traffic across MPLS VPNs is still routed via headquarters or hub locations (to ensure data security and compliance), resulting in delays.
- Hybrid work continues to gain traction and remote workers increasingly access cloud applications over internet connections. As a result, the inefficient “hairpin” model of traffic being routed via the enterprise data center no longer applies.
VMware addresses these industry drivers through the SASE PoPs, which co-locate SD-WAN and cloud security solutions in close proximity to enterprise users around the world. This proximity optimizes end users’ experience with cloud-hosted enterprise applications. VMware SD-WAN also has a unique feature called Dynamic Multipath Optimization, which uses continuous link monitoring and application awareness to remediate network problems and prioritize access to enterprise applications.
VMware Edge Network Intelligence, another VMware SASE service that is co-located within SASE PoPs, processes high volumes of data from a wide range of network, device, and application sources. The solution can pinpoint with clarity whether a perceived application problem is due to issues with the local Wi-Fi network, broadband network, WAN, network services, or with the application. This greatly simplifies network operations and management for IT teams.
VMware provides SD-WAN through its global network of channel partners, which include network service providers (NSPs), value-added resellers (VARs), managed service providers (MSPs), system integrators, and 270 telecom service providers. The company’s rich SASE partner ecosystem includes:
- Multi-Cloud and Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Oracle, Equinix)
- Unified Communications as a Service (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, RingCentral)
- Security (e.g., Zscaler, Check Point, Netskope, Menlo Security)
- Service Providers (e.g., AT&T, T-Mobile, Telstra)
- Access Anywhere (e.g., Eero, Transatel)
- Edge (e.g., AWS Outposts, Azure Private MEC, Lenovo)
- 5G (e.g., AWS Wavelength, Azure for Operators, ASOCS)
“VMware, with its strong SD-WAN solution, continues to lead the market in terms of number of deployed sites and revenue share,” Honnachari stated. “The company continues to innovate and invest in its product strategy and go-to-market programs as it expands its SASE platform, which includes SD-WAN as a core component. VMware’s excellent strategy for growth, product differentiation and implementation, and technology leverage drive its position as a leader in the SD-WAN market.”
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed an innovative element in a product by leveraging leading-edge technologies. The award recognizes the value-added features/benefits of the product and the increased ROI it offers customers, which, in turn, raises customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
