The world is swiftly becoming software-based, moving away from traditional hardware that can often be too slow and inefficient for rapidly evolving 21st-century needs.

SD-WANs (aka software-defined wide area networks) are a strong example of this, with many touting their numerous benefits over conventional WANs: high scalability, flexibility, security, easier deployment and management, and reduced complexity.

As more enterprises look to SD-WAN solutions, they have a growing number of tools, vendors, and converging technologies to consider. In this – as with many other sectors – IT consulting firm Gartner aims to be a strategic guide, having recently released its newest Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN.

The report identifies market leaders as Cisco, Fortinet, HPE (Aruba), Palo Alto Networks, Versa Networks, and VMware, and points to increasing integrations with secure access service edge (SASE) and generative artificial intelligence (AI).

“SD-WAN is still growing, but it is maturing,” report coauthor Gartner VP analyst Jonathan Forest told SDxCentral. “The key is to understand driving requirements and align to the best vendor to address needs.”

SD-WAN defined, Magic Quadrant evaluation criteria

Gartner defines SD-WAN as a replacement for traditional WAN that connects branches to each other and the cloud. It incorporates dynamic path selection, routing, centralized orchestration of policy and management of appliances, virtual private network (VPN), and zero-touch configuration.

The firm forecasts the SD-WAN market will generate a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 14.6% in end-user spending from 2022 through 2027. This is based on its 2023 market penetration of roughly 60%.

Vendors in the Magic Quadrant were evaluated based on their SD-WAN portfolios across areas, including:

• Routing and Application steering
• On-premises security (local)
• Partner-integrated cloud security
• Performance optimization
• Operational capabilities
• Deployment flexibility
• Small platform flexibility
• Scalability
• Cloud onramp
• Integrated WAN backbone

They were also judged in areas including overall viability, sales execution/pricing, market responsiveness/record, marketing execution, and customer experience, among others.

Leaders, visionaries, challengers, niche players

Magic Quadrant Leaders have long-term viability and have demonstrated sustained ability to address changing end-user requirements. They are innovative, can drive, shape, and transform the market, and have strong relationships and solid products that address most use cases.

Leader pros and cons:

• Cisco’s strengths include strong market visibility, sales channels, and go-to-market motion and a product strategy aligned to current and future Enterprise needs. Conversely, Cisco has below-average customer experience and offers separate products requiring different management platforms; its market investment is also uncertain.
• Fortinet stands out with strong products integrating security and market share. However, the company’s customer experience is below average, it may have limited ability to address complex Enterprise networking configurations and architectures, and it has limited integrations with third-party SASE vendors.
• HPE’s strengths are its high customer experience, above-average products, and responsiveness to market demand and changes. On the flip side, the company struggles with its innovation, lack of detailed geographic strategy, and multiple products that may result in customer or prospect confusion.
• Palo Alto Networks is innovative, has above-average customer experience, and a strong customer understanding. At the same time, its pricing is high, it has limited performance optimization, and its multiple products can create customer confusion and limitations.
• Versa Networks has strong products and strategy, and is responsive to the market. But its pricing is high, it offers multiple disparate products, and its geographic strategy is limited.
• VMware has a strong product roadmap, customer experience, and market visibility. On the other hand, it lags in on-premise security and market investment, and it doesn’t have a native SD-branch offering that integrates Wireless Local Area Network, Local Area Network, network security, and SD-WAN in a single platform.

Gartner also identifies Juniper Networks as a Visionary (having strong potential to drive and shape the market but lacking market share, viability, global coverage, and/or complete product capabilities).

Huawei is defined as a Challenger because it has sustained market execution, long-term viability, and solid products that address most use cases – but it has not shown the ability to drive, shape, and transform the market.

Barracuda, Cradlepoint, Forcepoint, Nuage Networks, Peplink, and Sophos are identified as Niche Players because they have more focused SD-WAN products that limit their market share or use cases.

Choosing the vendor that addresses your needs

Vendors included in the report all address specific needs in the market, Forest emphasized. This could be related to specific features, verticals, geographies, or go-to-market strategies.

“Clients should not exclusively focus on the Leaders, as all vendors in the research address various use cases,” he said, pointing out that “there are many capable vendors.”

When making buying decisions, organizations need to determine what is important to them in areas such as delivering strong network security, ensuring Application performance, supporting flexible cloud onramp architectures, and simplifying network operations, he said.

In choosing a vendor, enterprises should always run a proof of concept (PoC) to ensure solutions work as expected and, if they are managing internally, that they are comfortable with that process. Buyers should also be comfortable with vendor roadmaps as the market continues to evolve.

Increased convergence with SASE

While SD-WAN is being bought as a standalone and will continue being bought standalone “for years to come,” it is increasingly converging with SASE, which delivers converged network and security capabilities.

Gartner estimates that by 2026, 60% of new SD-WAN purchases will be part of a single-vendor SASE offering, a significant increase from 15% in 2022.

Particularly, mid-market and smaller companies are investing in both single-vendor and dual-vendor SASE due to ease of management, sourcing simplicity, and cost savings.

“At the end of the day, for enterprises who don’t have very specific networking or network security requirements, then simplicity of operations and working with one vendor is easier,” said Forest.

Over time, Gartner expects to see more organizations purchase single-vendor SASE solutions, he said. “It is starting at the mid-market today, but over time we expect it will move upmarket to the broader Enterprise space,” said Forest.

Other SD-WAN trends

SD-WAN buying decisions among Gartner clients continue to focus on network security, cloud connectivity, app performance optimization, and operation simplification. There is also a continued trend to use the Internet more as WAN and a movement away from multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), Forest said.

While MPLS is still used in hybrid WAN scenarios with SD-WAN as an overlay, the long-term trend will be movement to the Internet as a transport.

Additionally, SD-branch (the convergence of SD-WAN, wired and wireless LAN, and network security) remains a trend at small branch locations seeking simplicity.

Gartner also sees a joining of various technologies and markets, Forest said. Beyond SD-WAN and security services edge (SSE) merging to form SASE, there is also a convergence of cloud onramp and WAN backbone into broader SD-WAN offerings. Furthermore, network-as-a-service (networking-as-a-service (NaaS)) is increasingly becoming a consumption model option.

Increasing incorporation of generative AI

Generative AI is being integrated into every industry, and SD-WAN is no different. “We observe vendors investing heavily in AI and generative AI to improve operational support,” Forest said.

In fact, by 2026, Gartner predicts that generative AI embedded into SD-WAN will be used for 20% of initial network configurations, up from near zero in 2023.

Over the medium to longer term, networking with generative AI will become more standardized and drive buying decisions, Forest said. The technology brings value in assisting with network design, setup, and management.

Some vendors are leveraging generative AI to assist with day two operations to drive operational efficiency to solve problems more quickly with fewer resources. And, in the future, some functionality may be included as part of standard software subscriptions, Forest said.

“Ultimately, generative AI can help drive more efficiency from day 0 to day two for full lifecycle management,” Forest noted.